Why is that every time we have a political event, this country feels that it has to go into go-slow mode and over-analyse each and every snippet of information?

The budget is a clear case in point. It came and went a week ago, and still everyone is procrastinating. Accusations, rebuttals, counter-accusations and more rebuttals are the order of the day. It really is quite depressing, to say the least.

We’re always saying how we need to move on, to become more modern and, on the business side of things, to be more competitive and to offer better alternatives to investors.

Well, one thing is clear, if investors hear about us moaning on, with slanging matches going on in the political arena – don’t kid yourself, it will put them off.

We want to be taken seriously as a country, and then we let ourselves down – which shows that we are immature as a people. Even if we look at how we discuss the budget, from the man in the street upwards, the early argument is more often than not hot air vented off in temper and reaction, rather than well thought out discussion.

Let us take things at face value. Malta hasn’t been doing well in various fields in the past four or five years – tourism, the economy, the deficit, debt, and energy prices – we have struggled on in all of them.

The reality of the situation is that the country had gone off the rails and someone needed to guide it back onto a good steady route. We are never going to change what goes on in budgets. Budgets are there for a reason – to administer the country – to raise money to make up for shortfalls and to invest money in other areas. But at the end of the day, a full month of having the country at more or less a standstill is not going to do anyone any favours at all – not the government, not industry and, most of all, not the worker.

Fair enough, governments do sometimes realise that they have erred and all of them, even this one, do try to find a fairer solution if the measure to be implemented is unjust or does not work.

But the crucial point of the matter is that we just don’t know how to get on with things, we get all immersed in our individual problems and don’t look at the bigger picture. This holds true not only for the international situation but, believe it or not, even at a national level.

The government says it has reduced the deficit and, as figures submitted and verified by Eurostat have revealed – in that respect we are moving forward. The government is quite obviously trying to tackle one thing at a time; maybe all of us would like to see things move a bit faster, but at least things are getting done.

But, again, for lack of a better or more suitable expression, the country and the public must get on with it. The situation is what it is. Sitting back and watching events unfold all around us is not going to help at all – things will only get worse. What we need and, to a certain extent, what the government is doing, is to grab the bull by the horns and stop the slide. You cannot be in a slump and expect to immediately bounce back up to the surface. The slide must be stopped, then we can think about grafting even harder to finally break out into the fresh air. If we work hard enough and stop procrastinating – it might happen. But the truth of it all is that the key lies not with government – it’s with the people. Government can only put the necessary framework into place – it is up to the whole nation to work hard and achieve success.