Having herself invented the claim that property prices would come down due to rent reform ascribing it to the Greens, she now congratulates herself for having “obliged” the Greens to agree with her when they deny her claims. Only in Malta does one have to go through such gyrations to snatch at the truth.

What the Greens are proposing is a wholesale reform of the rent laws which have passed their due by date by half a century, not only allowing owners of such properties relief from the injustice they have suffered long past tolerance but also giving our politcal adversaries an opportunity to revisit the complex issues afflicting the Maltese property market.

Regardless of what Ms Micallef writes and of whether she believes it or not, there is an unshakeable and very widespread conviction founded on very bitter experience, that neither of our adversaries would have dared approach the subject without Green pressure. Ms Micallef herself can confirm that, except for an informal meeting in the summer of 2003, she has not been consulted by the powers that be on anything to do with reform of the rent laws despite the promise made at the opening of this legislature in the same year that this matter would be tackled.

That mere mention in the President’s speech was an initial victory for the Greens who were alone in making rent reform a significant issue in the 2003 election campaign. Our adversaries had never even squeaked in reply throughout the campaign. As everybody knows, Minister Dolores Cristina promised to return to the issue only after the Greens announced a referendum campaign bid in November 2004. We waited for over a year before taking the plunge.

The minister’s 2004 promise was to present a report on the issue to cabinet in the first six months of 2005. She recently asked for a small extension on her deadline in a television debate.

The Greens are glad to concede on this, but also take it as an indication of the urgency, or lack of it, with which the government has addressed the issue so far. We are also aware that a report to Cabinet this summer leading to a White Paper on rent reform early in 2006 means that government would like to be still debating the issue this time next year. Legislation will be promised in 2007 and then something or other will turn up. The 2008 election itself looms large on the calendar anyway.

It is not enough that we have placed the issue on the politcal agenda and have both our adversaries sitting up and taking note because of the very widespread consensus in favour of change. We must keep the pressure up since the government has every interest in going back to sleep.

In the coming weeks, the pressure will be increased: not only do we not want to allow the government any snooze option, we want to give every Maltese citizen the right to choose. Ms Micallef wants everybody to rely on the superior wisdom of a somnolent government which has been in a trance for 60 years on this issue.

Her efforts to confuse and confound will only discredit her with her readers.

The facts are so far from fiction that thousands must feel the embarrassment to which she appears to be immune herself.

Instead of acting like a second rate propagandist, she should make her case in a reasonable manner concentrating on the difficulties she perceives in our common path towards a sane property regime for Malta.

There are many difficulties. This is precisely why no government has ever taken the bull by the horns before. This is precisely why the Greens have been obliged to resort to demanding a referendum.

We will not back down!

We will keep the pressure up until something gets done. If our adversaries have concerns and objections to bring to the debate, we would be more than welcome to deal with them, to make our proposals, to create the synergies we need to address this crucial issue. We have always accepted every invitation to debate and contribute to solutions.

What the referendum does is give a time factor to the debate: government must come up with solutions in time to regulate the transition from controlled rent to a reformed rent regime.

The clock is ticking, and mudslinging and propaganda will not slow it down. The chairman of the Housing Authority is invited to behave as such.

Dr Vassallo is chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party

www.alternattiva.org.mt

[email protected]