What is exactly the definition of a nationalist?

Obviously a person who is devoted to the nation, in this case the Maltese population.

Last year three people contested the election to become the new Prime Minister instead of Dr Eddie Fenech Adami.

They were John Dalli, Louis Galea and, last but not least, Lawrence Gonzi. From the very start it was clear that the latter was the favourite and time and votes proved the matter correct.

The Prime Minister has governed our country for a whole year now and if ever a word for a party proved to be incorrect, then the word “nationalist” is.

One year later the Prime Minister has done absolutely nothing to rectify the situation of the jobless; if anything he has done more harm than good by imposing more taxes on us plus an added three per cent VAT.

This Prime Minister, who I must admit has a certain charisma,has not done much for the Maltese population and I state my reasons for saying so.

Does a person who wants to serve his country well deny 13,000 inhabitants residing in Marsa and Zejtun the right to vote in the local council elections? Does a person keen to serve his country promise investment from abroad yet, one year later, this investment is non-existent?

Does a person committed to honour and cherish the common worker eliminate four days off from his or her annual vacation leave?

Does a Prime Minister not hear the pleas of the pensioner whose meagre pension does not stretch far enough to enable him to buy the medicine he requires and which is denied him for free at St Luke’s Hospital?

Does a serious man rant on and on about the state of our environment, yet without any type of discussion decides to create an eyesore near historical temples and then make a U-turn, one of those famous U-turns he loves to rap the leader of the Labour Party on the knuckles for?

Does a Prime Minister who was Social Policy Minister before his promotion to Prime Minister and an ex-leader of a Catholic movement remember the White Paper he pledged to work so hard on so as to assist battered wives? Does a Prime Minister who is a family man himself realise that the drug problem in Malta has escalated to gigantic proportions yet, where this “malady” is concerned, mum’s the word?

Last but not least, does he know that a woman’s place is not in the home anymore not because she does not want to but because she has to pay for those astronomical water and electricity bills which not only did not return to being what they were in 1995 but have now increased by a further 17 per cent?

Indeed I ask, is this what nationalism is all about? One year later…and is-serhan tar-mohh (peace of mind) is nothing but an illusion.

Valerie Borg

VALLETTA