On the eve of every general election we have become accustomed to the casual assurances of the Nationalist Party that should it be returned to power it has heaven-on-earth in store to deliver. The brutal reality is normally dished out to the nation during the symbolic first 100 days of the government’s tenure of office.

Who would have thought that days after the Nationalist Party would be returned to power, in 1998, the former Prime Minister Fenech Adami would humbly beg his party faithful at a mass meeting to help him carry the cross? “What cross?” everyone was asking! And who would then have expected the Finance Minister to declare, with a straight face, that “it is high time to start gnawing with our teeth”? How can it be? You will not have already forgotten the abominable assurance of “is-serhan tal-mohh mill-ghada tal-elezzjoni” your mind at rest from the day aftet the election) as well as the guarantees that a new Nationalist administration would curb taxation, rekindle the economy and strengthen the welfare state.

Most of us were also duped into believing that the infamous “hofra” (hole) was indeed a “hrafa” (fable) and that it existed only in the imagination of Labour politicians who lost all social conscience. When the votes were cast there was no denial of the burgeoning deficit any more. Of course with the Nationalist Party again at the helm it did not make strategic sense to deny the undeniable any further. But it was politically convenient to be dishonest and to lay responsibility for its existence squarely on Alfred Sant, as usual. We were then solemnly promised that the Nationalist Party had the financial acumen to clear the mess left behind by the outgoing Labour administration.

The four and a half years that followed up to the last general election were the hallmark of deceit. We were told, time and time again, that the country’s finances were being put in order, that the deficit was narrowing and that public debt was being capped. Days before the last general election the Nationalists resorted to the same old tactics that, admittedly, reaped them dividends in the past. There was no tongue in cheek when the Nationalist Party proudly displayed one of its electoral and referendum slogans grandly predicting that the “country's finances were on a sound footing”. (Finanzi fis-sod).

That hollow promise coincided with the closure of negotiations on European Union accession which regaled Malta with Lm81 million for the first three years after membership. Objectively the financial deal was a pittance next to what had already been promised but it kept the Nationalist Party PR machine going for a while. This time the people’s perception was that the Nationalist Party will not renege on its promises again but that it would surely be able to deliver. The “new spring” was in the air and the Nationalists were torpedoed back to power.

Reality struck again and the Nationalist game was again all over. John Dalli again relinquished his role of window dresser and took up his duties as Finance Minister, perhaps for the first time.

Now that the 2003 elections were safely tucked away he coughed up enough chutzpah to declare that public finances were, after all, in a quandary. We then had it from the horse’s mouth that, after all, the deficit and the dire state of our finances had nothing to do with “Labour’s incompetence”. Thanks to the good offices of the Nationalist administration 2003 ended with a deficit of more than Lm110 million. It seemed that all the mascara wore off.

Will anyone have the effrontery to deny that for the last couple of years we have been taxed through our noses in this “new spring”. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi routed peoples’ pockets with taxes to try to bridge the deficit. And in lieu of a proper strategy on hedging of oil he opted for an unholy surcharge on the utilities bills that brought so much misery to so many families.

Now, on the eve of the next general elections, they have the gall to promise the nation that “families are on a sound footing” (Familji fis-sod). Well, if families are going to be as strong as finances turned out to be during the last four years then, my God, what is going to happen to our families?

More than a “new spring” the day of reckoning has arrived!

Dr Gulia is opposition spokesman for Home Affairs.