There is something distinctly dismal in the way our country is moving backwards.

During this decade, the Nationalist government has been weak in every domestic aspect. The inflation is high, growth has been negligible, and the goal of full employment for our generation has not been reached. The Nationalist Party, which in the early 1990s had managed to turn itself into the natural party for economic strength, is today looking ineffective in the quest to arrest Maltese economic decline.

What’s worse is that through its actions, the Nationalist government is implying that the only way forward towards a strong economy is by abandoning social justice. Labour, from the first day in government, must prove them not only unfair, but also wrong.

While Britain has managed to grow faster and attain important social targets, Malta under the Nationalist government has been moving backwards both in economic and social terms. In the UK, more and more people are going out of the poverty line. In Malta, more and more people are slipping downwards in their lifestyles and financial backups.

Until a few years ago, the Nationalists claimed that they were champions of the purely leftist belief that economic prosperity and social justice can advance together. Presently, through their actions, they are not only endangering our economy but also destroying any idea of solidarity and community. The Nationalists have never been as unimpressive and as lacklustre as today.

We are back again to the old days of inflationary pay rises, the days of putting sectional interests ahead of the national interest, the days of instability in industrial relations and in public finances. Instead of pressing forward towards attaining goals of efficiency, value for money, personalised services, accountability, choice and high standard, our country, led by an insipid government, has become a source of frustration for the younger and older generations alike.

More dangerous is the fact that Malta is repeatedly failing in the biggest industrial restructuring in our economic history. The present free-market dogma has proved to be as bad as the old choice of protectionism and isolationism. The end result is that Malta is failing to mobilise the skills, ideas and talents of all Maltese people.

In a Europe where the pace of innovation is faster than ever before, and global competition is more threatening than ever before, the government is failing in engaging Malta as an outward-looking, reforming Mediterranean country.

I for one believe that, in this new world, a nation cannot be first in wealth and growth if it is last in granting new opportunities to each and every citizen. China and India are producing four million graduates a year. We, Malta, a micro-country, must realise the potential of every one of us and combat this competition by investing in higher skills as opposed to lower pay.

In this context, where have the last years of Nationalist governance taken us? Are we faring better or are we worse off in education than before? Are our graduates seeking more work opportunities in Malta or fewer? Are we managing to offer new incentives to our best brains? The answers to those questions are all in the negative. We need to live in a Malta were people can aim as high as they can reach and are empowered to pursue their dreams. We need to celebrate the explosive entrepreneurial spirit of each and every Maltese. We need to live in a Malta where each person is bound together more by mutual commitment of community than by contracts and self interest.

We need new faces, modern ideas, a fresh start, a clean break.

We need to change the dismal way our country is moving backwards.

Owen Bonnici is an MLP councillor in Marsascala