I was astonished at the letter “We never had it so good” (TMID, 18 September) written by Giov. DeMartino. In his usual apocalyptic style, he tries to convince us all that voting for Labour in the upcoming general election is a bad, unforgivable sin. If the Nationalist government and the Nationalist supporters are so confident about their performance as a party in government, why do they always end up attacking Dr Alfred Sant and the MLP? If they really feel confident of all the 'successes' that they had they should just sit down, relax and enjoy the good times.

But indeed they cannot do that, because their performance as a government has been, to say the least, disastrous. Every project initiated by this government has been delayed, suspended or tinged with problems. The Mater Dei Hospital (17 years to complete and still waiting to receive its first patients), the Manwel Dimech Bridge, the Mgarr Sea Terminal, the San Lawrenz Road, the St Paul's Bay Bypass, and the list of failed projects goes on and on and on....

But even seeing all this happen in front of his eyes, the Prime Minister never ever thought of doing a reshuffle of his old and tired Cabinet – with some ministers having been there for nearly 20 years. Even now with the introduction of the euro, all families are feeling that prices are being drastically increased everywhere without any control. No wonder the government will boast of stable prices once the euro is adopted – all the increases would have been done earlier!

Another failure is the insensitive way that the water and electricity surcharge was introduced. It's positive that the government has introduced incentives for low income families, but what about the middle income earners? We are those worst affected by this new tax. Let us not forget the corruption cases involving a number of ministries and the ridiculous state the PBS has ended up in.

So let us all admit that this country needs a fresh start and a new plan for the future. We cannot go on like this; we need new faces, new ideas, and new initiatives. All this can only be brought about by a new Labour government elected in the next general election. The Labour Party has shown its will to govern according to the will of the people and the needs of our country. The new plan published by the Labour Party shows that it is a party that believes in consultation and discussions, and in giving a voice to all sectors of Maltese society. So let us not be afraid of change and embrace the good times coming with a new beginning after the next general election.

Carmelo Vella

Paola