Dear Prime Minister,

I hope that this letter finds you well. I thought I would write to you, as I know that meeting you in person would most likely be difficult.

You might be surprised to know that I was very close to voting for Labour in the last election. You see, I was impressed with all the great slogans and all of your party's promises, it all sounded so good and yes, so true.

Let’s face it, back then, many of us yearned for change and you promised that change, and I too was not overly keen in having the Nationalist government in power again. However, after much thought I voted for the Nationalist Party because even though I had been very annoyed with the way a number of issues were handled and the fact that the Nationalist Party had lost touch with the people, in the end, I decided to look at the bigger picture and focus on what the PN had delivered - a list too long to mention. Most importantly my decision was based on the fact that the Nationalist Party stayed true to the principle of democracy throughout the time that they governed. Yes, it made mistakes and today, such mistakes have been acknowledged.

And don’t we all make mistakes after all? I too have made some and will probably make more, but when I do make a mistake I first make sure to acknowledge it, then to learn from it and, finally I try my utmost not to repeat it. Yes there are times when I bury my head in the sand, but I soon realise that by doing so, I am only losing out.

The Nationalist Party has done exactly this - by way of example it acknowledged the mistakes it made when it came to some decisions regarding the environment (even your government has made way too many mistakes in this area, some of which are unprecedented) and it is now ensuring that these mistakes don't keep happening. The Nationalist Party went one step further - it made a proposal regarding outside development zones - and, as I am sure you are aware, it also made a number of other proposals, namely about good governance, the economy, reducing traffic and resolving the Air Malta crisis.

I know that as the Prime Minister it is hard to acknowledge that your opponent is making good proposals, but perhaps you can look at it differently and view these propositions in the light of the common good, and not in the light of your government versus the opposition.

We are in desperate need to get this country back on the right track. We are in desperate need for you to listen.

Not in a million years would I have thought that in such a short time you would have managed to drag us all into this mess with one scandal after another. In fact, despite having voted for the Nationalist Party, I still had high hopes for your government; to be honest, I thought that your government would do well. But it has not.  You have got us to a point where corruption is the order of the day; where corruption is something you close a blind eye to.

But then I think of another scenario - what if I, just like you, I got into power together with my friends? Would I be able to dismiss them? Would I have the courage to investigate their wrongdoings? I know that this is a tough one and I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes but, when you are the Prime Minister of a country, like it or not, your country comes first and your friends have to go.

I am new to politics but I know that being up there can be lonely and that the moment you 'touch' politics, everything changes - the friends you thought are your true friends may or may not be such true friends after all; the people you meet may be nice to you for the wrong reasons and, the list of disappointments goes on.

However, as politicians what we must keep at the forefront is, the people and their needs and the country and all the work it entails to keep it going forward.

You are not just any politician, you are the Prime Minister of Malta, and you have the power to make a difference. It would be great if you used it well. You could literally wake up tomorrow morning and make the changes we need – yes, you can. Of course, it would be difficult to forget the harm already caused, but you have another two years in government to make amends.  Even though your failures would mean a guaranteed win for my party, I do not wish that for Malta. Our country deserves better; it deserves the highest standards possible. If you can achieve this, then it would be good for you and for the rest of us.

As the opposition we have come up with a number of things that you can just implement - we are literally doing a lot of the work that you and your colleagues should be doing, but you are too distracted to notice.

Despite the fact that I am a new candidate for the Nationalist Party I am writing to you with what I honestly think and believe. I would love to meet you and listen to what you have to say and I would love to know the reasons why you are you not listening and why have you decided to ignore your people?

I close by wishing you well and hope that in the next two years you will deliver what this country really needs and not what you and your close friends need.

Remember, this is about all of us Prime Minister; it’s not just about a few favourites, or at least it shouldn’t be.

 

Roslyn Borg is a PN candidate for the next general election