So the news is out and reconfirmed.  All polls show that on Saturday, the big two,  or rather the big one with two faces, will once again carry the day, galloping ahead, leaving behind a cloud of dust choking the brave but vanquished  small party foot soldiers.

The latter, defeated but proud, have been fighting off the powerful deliaPNPL cavalry, which recently made it its mission among missions to unplug the life support that has kept our comatose democracy just about breathing. 

Yes, the polls are all saying, in no uncertain terms that once again, the establishment, with its giant party machines and fabulously rich financiers with deep vested interests in securing the status quo, have convinced you that there is no way but their way of thinking and acting.  Yet again, you have been inundated with propaganda, and subtly injected with enough feel-good, dream-provoking factor to tide you well over the election period and sail effortlessly through the shocking scandals that will continue to be divulged in the immediate aftermath of the power  to power replenishing exercise, while you are still  numb enough not to care. The polls are saying that you are going to be duped, again, but the polls can remain just that, polls, if you embark on a thorough think-through exercise, and decide to prove them wrong. 

So, if it is 55 per cent PL/40 per cent PN, is what you really and truly want for yourself and your country, that is, if you want to give more power to the JMPanamaLabour  government, or if you want to tell the DeliaPN Opposition that it is doing  great, emulating the Castille pack, and sending its party president to beg for alms from big business implicated in national scandals it is supposed to be calling out. If that is what you really want, then stick  to PNPL and confirm the poll results with your vote next Saturday. 

Also, you definitely have to Vote PNPL if you abhor the free press and think that investigative journalists should be called ‘biċċa blogger’, and media houses starved out of operations if they insist on reporting the truth. Again, PNPL definitely it is, if you’re feeling healthier with every breath you take, you love concrete coffins sprouting out randomly, pricking the sky and cutting down on your cooling bills by casting dark shadows over your village core property, if you prefer to grow vegetables in roundabouts instead of terraced fields, and if you like the  idea of swelling the population of our islands to 700k while Maltese and Gozitans leave the islands in droves.

If you believe that the wealth your country generates should be ploughed through by the few at the top and their friends while the general population settles for the leftovers and for humbly clearing the vomit resulting from the gluttonous overindulgence, then again, go ahead, confirm the polls. 

The PD is a small party with a big heart and great vision

If on the other hand, you want Labour but want to improve it and get better governance, say it with your vote. If you want to give PN a chance to survive and rebuild itself into that political party that put Malta on the map of civilised democratic, wealthy nations, then say it with your vote, expressing your disapproval at the trajectory it is currently taking. 

Do not vote PN this time round, if you want to secure a chance to vote a better version of PN back into power, in a national election, sooner rather than later.

So if you want to rock the establishment and shake it out of its drunken stupor, without replacing them with racists and fundamentalists, consider the other small parties and independents. The Democratic Party is a small party with a big heart and great vision. We believe in a fair, just society, that can thrive in a sustainable environment nurtured by a healthy economy that serves and not enslaves the people.  The PD believes education and training are the key to success, and in rule of law to create a safe and  just environment which enables a person to reach his/ her full potential. 

It is time you realised that PD is  what you make it with your support and participation. It is as big, resourceful and competent  as you decide to make it with your vote and active participation. The Democratic Party has been created to provide you with a credible, far-reaching alternative choice of governance at local and European levels. 

The polls show that you might be overseeing this hard-working honest team, but it is the vote that makes the change, not the poll.

So, while news indicates that Sunday, you will further empower the bulldozing PL government, or confirm Adrian Delia as leader of a paralysed Opposition that is playing in the hands of a corrupt government, the choice remains yours until you vote.

Ultimately, it is your choice which will determine the path our political parties, our country and continent, will take from Sunday onwards. You are still in time.

You can choose an uglier version of more of the same, or you can choose the orange way, which means hope for the restoration of normality, health and contentment as the qualities that underpin the lives of our people.

Godfrey Farrugia is leader of the Democratic Party.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece