Many of us have clearly lost trust in our political class. The loyalists of ‘Caesar and his wife’ are demanding that evidence that would hold up in a criminal court must be produced. The “non-royalists” have pronounced their verdict on the recent behaviour of some politicians and their families as simply scandalous, wrong and unacceptable.

We have a situation where the traditional parties are busy trying to win local brownie points over each other. This is to be expected, of course, but thanks to this new level of mistrust in our traditional political class, a new and far more harmful threat has crept up on our nation. International mistrust in Malta is far more harmful even than any mistrust in our present political class. It is leading to a loss of credibility in the international political, economic and financial arenas. This hurts us all in equal measure and not just taghna lkoll.

If we are all truly serious about Malta’s (for which read ‘our own’) future and our international reputation, then Malta needs an absolutely watertight plan in place right now. It is as if we are fast asleep, deep in the bowels of a ship, with a growing fire in the boiler room and our officers are bickering in the wheelhouse. The ship could so very easily sink and we need a plan that will take us to a better place safely, fast. What is actually more important to us right now? Is it our present/future or is it all just about our traditional parties’ future above everything else?

I actually think Malta’s (our) future, the PN’s and the (real) Labour Party’s future are all equally at stake as this boiler room fire spreads. A form of mutually assured destruction is being played out and we need to stop the madness and find a solution that is clearly not being provided by the current political system. Failure in this particular case is just not an option that any of us can afford and we must all step up responsibly.

We have the harm that tghana lkoll – presently in government – are doing to the Labour party itself and our country. We all know that they are duping their supporters and using this support base for the benefit of the very few. Decent Laburisti (there are many!) must – once and for all – come out of denial and reject outright the plague of tghana lkoll that has infected the Labour Party. Honest leaders must emerge from within Labour itself and stand up against the tghana lkoll gang to stop the destruction already being caused to the Labour party. After all, if there is anything left it is they who will have to pick up the pieces once tghana lkoll ride off into the sunset with all their ill-gotten gains. The message within then must be clear: we trusted you and you betrayed that trust. It is up to these brave new leaders – whom we will help – to take back their party from the taghna lkoll and set the ship back on the right course. It’s either that or seriously risk seeing it disintegrate before their very eyes.

Undeniably, the Laburisti themselves suffered injustices during the 25 years of PN – which is now playing the virgin with a bout of amnesia). They suffered – and worked voluntarily – because they trusted in the moviment and in Muscat himself. Both have betrayed that trust completely. We have a situation where the very few tghana lkoll at the top have gorged themselves sick on all the champagne, caviar, cigars, the table and even the chairs as well, while the rest are simply left with another promise of a lollipop in two years time (!), just because an election is looming around the corner.

In our eyes, then, no criminal court is needed to be persuaded of tghana lkoll’s guilt. As for the PN, it has now had four years of being hit by one great scandal after another. I just fail to understand why the party is still in opposition and how Dr Busutill is trailing our Prime Minister in the polls by such a margin. The PN owes a huge debt of gratitude to Daphne Caruana Galizia, without whom they would still be in a very dark cupboard, sitting on their hands. Thanks to the efforts of others, the PN are now riding the wave and making progress – albeit still fumbling one ball after another in front of an open goal. Their present message that “only the PN can save Malta now” is not only a clear indication that the sheer arrogance of old is back but also jars with common sense. It is pushing people (even nationalists) away at a time when it needs support from people on the other side before it can start claiming to be a serious alternative to tghana lkoll. The PN should stop thinking with their present mindset and start thinking of proper channels of communication with those who could make a real difference to Malta and the PN itself.

From the start, Alleanza Bidla had very serious concerns over the mechanism and legality of even the much trumpeted “pre-election coalition”. Our concerns now seem justified, as the original plan has now been twisted into PD candidates now contesting as nothing more than PN candidates – under the total control of the PN machine and its rules, naturally. Thankfully, like us, AD rejected this shameful assimilation by the PN for its own benefit. Knowing the people in PD, I have no doubt that their intent was intended to be positive, but how can it be when the whole idea of a third party was to offer a real time (external) safety valve to the traditional party in power and now PD has become part of the same?

My hopes for real change – the hopes of many others too – have been shattered beyond repair by both tghana lkoll and, yes, also the PN, which has still not done enough to redeem itself and regain our trust directly. We are not about to hand back the reins to the PN based on ‘virtual/cosmetic change’ and it must understand this if it wants to help itself and Malta out of the present dire straits. It does not have a God-given right to govern and simply replace tghana lkoll with its equivalent, as in the past. It must therefore start listening and respecting others far more, rather than remaining aloof.

A cursory look at electoral law shows that there are simpler, more effective ways of achieving the very goal we the parties all claim to want – a viable solution that as, their aspiring representative, the voters are expecting us all to give them.

Let us by all means seriously put Malta first and foremost. No one needs to throw away their ideologies and be forced to fit in with other parties for a workable solution. No party needs to accept the conditions of another in order to work towards the same goal. Each of them should be fully respected and treated with dignity. Assimilation is futile and playing with mirrors is just plain silly.

We are still in time but, quite frankly, the PN needs to show far more goodwill than it has done up to now. Otherwise, its leaders – and no one else – will be held accountable in the people’s court for another defeat – for both the PN and – worse – the Maltese nation per se.