What perhaps could have been one of the most divisive political campaigns in our history, surrounded with passionate politics, has come to an end and the government is fully focused on ensuring national unity. It is the government’s responsibility to start the journey to focus on reuniting the nation, as the Prime Minister made clear at the swearing in ceremony earlier this week.
Such a strong mandate will give the government the strength it needs to move forward. Throughout this legislature, the government will focus on Maltese families and their quality of life. The electoral manifesto put forward by the Labour Party was based on four main principles: equality, social justice, social mobility and unity. These principles will be at the heart of this government’s work over the next five years.
With this in mind, the government shall start in earnest to ensure that our booming economy leaves more money in people’s pockets, especially those that need it the most in order to help them move forward too, which is why we will be reforming our tax code by giving a tax bonus to every worker earning up to €60,000, while at the same time ensuring that our economic success is not coming at the expense of our quality of life.
Ultimately, a strong economy remains strong if it serves the people’s needs and is built with them at the centre of it. Only then will our economic success become a lasting one.
We will focus on rewarding hard work and promoting more quality time with your family, which is why we will be giving workers back their public holidays that fall over a weekend and incentivising flexible working hours and companies to invest in teleworking facilities. These measures will promote a more positive work-life balance for the Maltese people because we believe that quality time is as important as the quality of our careers.
The government’s priorities with regard to projects will centre on ensuring that everyone has a place they call home. We will be putting forward specific measures in relation to the rental market and social housing is high on our agenda. Access to the property market has been adversely affected as a consequence of economic success. It is time for the government to intervene to ensure that Malta remains fair for all.
With this in mind, home ownership will continue to be a priority for this Labour government, which is why our electoral manifesto saw an extension of the first-time buyer scheme extended to those moving into their second home. We want to ensure that everyone, especially youths, have a good chance to get on the housing ladder.
This government is determined to also focus on what you see once you step out of your home: Malta’s roads and infrastructure. One of the top five pledges Labour made in the beginning of its campaign was a seven-year plan to fix all the country’s roads, starting with those that have never been surfaced with tarmac before.
This project is not only exciting but also a source of pride because all the roads on the island will finally be of European standard. But we will go even further and we will be presenting to the people our plans for a new responsible and sustainable mass transportation system.
This Labour government has many exciting and new priorities to deliver upon and our aim is to work in tandem with all stakeholders, to remain close to the business community to lead our country to experience its best days.
Our resolve, energy and drive to leave behind a better, more ambitious Malta has been reinvigorated and revitalised.
SARAH HAIDER, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
The electorate has spoken and the choice was for the Labour Party.
The temptation for the incoming government to treat the result as a carte blanche is very strong, especially if it is interpreted as having been an endorsement of all that had been done in the previous four years.
Malta has enjoyed economic success over the past years and this success exploded in the past four years due to various reasons such as the international economic recovery, a relative stability in Libya and substantially-reduced global oil prices.
There is no doubt that the economic situation, together with other factors, contributed in no small way to the outcome of the election and there lies the first great responsibility for the government. There are no guarantees that the outside factors, which influence our small economy, will remain so favourable. It is imperative that strategic vision is employed for diversification and widening of our economic activity to reduce the risk of any shocks to the system coming from international fluctuations.
Stability and continuity are also important priorities for the country. The serious doubts and questions raised about the propriety of the actions of senior government officials will not just go away and will not be wiped away with the electoral result. The doubts are still very much there and the Prime Minister is in duty-bound to address this issue, guaranteeing to everybody that Maltese institutions do work and that the proper measures are taken to investigate all the allegations, investigate as necessary and exonerate or proceed on the basis of objective findings.
This is where a very important challenge lies for the Prime Minister. The events which preceded the election have highlighted the fact that public institutions have, to a large extent, been transformed into an extension of the executive, namely the government.
The main proposal the Nationalist Party presented for the election was that of good governance. This proposal was aimed at restoring public confidence in its institutions through the non-partisan appointment of trusted persons to key positions. It must be stressed that such trust must not be based on partisan allegiance, or anticipated conformity with the government’s will, but on independence, objectivity and autonomy.
The Nationalist Party’s proposal for appointment to these fundamental roles in institutions, which need to be shoring up the democratic system, was for a two-thirds majority in Parliament. History has shown that this is achievable and crucial decisions that were milestones in the political development of our country, including the establishment of the Republic, were taken in this spirit.
The Opposition is there to participate in any initiative that is clearly for the benefit of the country. We shall be there to do our job of scrutinising the work of the government, as is our duty, and to make sure the independent media will not be shackled in its crucial function in our democracy.
We shall also be there to participate actively in the drafting and implementation of measures we consider to be vital for our country to grow, not only economically, but also politically.
The electoral result gave Labour the right to govern and the responsibility of implementing its promises upon which it was elected.
The result also gave the Nationalist Party the obligation to be the voice of the large percentage of the electorate who want good and clean governance and who expect the Opposition to make sure such is delivered.
The government will find the Opposition scrutinising it closely to ensure proper governance for the good of the country and its people. It will also find an Opposition willing to work with the government hand-in-hand, again for the good of the country.
Our electoral slogan, ‘We choose Malta’, will be the hallmark of our work in Opposition in the coming legislature.
David Agius, NATIONALIST MP