Nikita Zammit brought up the latest MLP mud pie regarding VAT on education (TMID, 5 October). This must be Malta at its best again!

So, in Malta, I buy my young Billy all that is necessary for his attendance in school and I do not pay VAT. All well and good and that includes a school uniform, I presume. Now, by school uniform I take it that it would include shirt, pants, blazer and a pair of socks. Then a month later, Billy has a hole in his socks and Nikita expects that I go buy Billy a pair of new socks and argue that since he wears them as part of his uniform I should not pay VAT! Then Billy is advised to read as much as possible in order to improve his language skills, so Billy buys a novel and since the advice was given by his teacher, I expect to pay no VAT. What about his glasses he wears to read?

This is Malta where the payment of VAT is so lax that people like Nikita and Opposition Leader Alfred Sant seem to dictate what and when it should be paid. This is where, not only the application of VAT has loopholes one can drive a truck through, but as far as education is concerned, the government’s generosity is clearly manifested in the payment of stipends for those attending university! That we be so lucky over here!

In order to remedy Nikita’s and Dr Sant’s complaints, VAT should be paid on all items except food. A much richer country like Canada does not fiddle around ‘grey’ areas. The rule is simple, GST (equivalent of VAT) is paid right across the board, including medicines, but not on food items, complain or not.

I too watched the same programme (Bondiplus) and I too observed that Dr Gonzi does not respond to smears, innuendos and mudslinging when his opposite closed his ears and mind when Dr Gonzi tried to throw back accurate figures at him. Dr Sant exposed his character for what it is and against his type one would never get to first base because he is so evasive and never gives a straight answer.

Yes, Dr Gonzi could have been a bit sharper in reminding Dr Sant that under the MLP regime of the 80s, and Dr Sant was there too, one had to smuggle a humble bar of Mars to enjoy some decent chocolate.

I too was not impressed at all at Dr Sant’s ‘joke’ and I congratulate the MLP machine for quick thinking and turning such a sorry sight into a ‘joke’. Problem is, nobody was laughing, even some of his closest allies.

The general election, when it comes, and that is entirely left to Dr Gonzi, will be decided on who is more statesmanlike, who has a pair of steady hands on Malta’s helm, who makes more sense, who does not take politics as a joke, who has defined plans and carries them out, who brought record foreign investments like SmartCity Malta, Lufthansa etc. and that person is Dr Gonzi and his fellow ministers.

There simply is no room for a Prime Minister whose past record is dismal, who changes his mind whenever it is expedient, who froze Malta’s application to join the European Union, whose mathematics are terrible, whose solutions are over simplistic (at best), whose advice (including devaluation) is defective and who is surrounded by his brand of ‘yes men’.

Labourites have the right to enjoy their leader and we certainly would not want to disturb them especially since what he is doing will ensure another Nationalist victory.

Joe Martinelli

London, Ontario

Canada