Languishing miles behind the 80,000 or so Maltese who had opted to visit mater Dei Hospital weeks ago during an open weekend; the Opposition Leader last week found time to venture into this unchartered territory. He had received yet another invitation. Whoopi!! He had honoured us by accepting. Bull!!!

Having toured the premises and visited the various theatres and wards, he seems to have been awed by what he saw. He must have been virtually exuberant at the fact that if elected to government, all infrastructural needs in the health sector would be in place. He just fell short of saying this. It was obvious that the possible reports of lack of preparedness as well as snags which had been referred to him had been bypassed or proved to be inexistent. He could only remark that he appreciated that the hospital was substantial in size, well finished and that the equipment was state of the art.

Coming from the leader of the Opposition in Malta; this says a lot. It proves once again that the government had been right all the time. The present administration has had to take in criticism for years. Most of it came off the cuff or as a result of hearsay. After all, Dr Sant had not been over on site since his one visit during his stance as Prime Minister back in the nineties.

However seeing that the media had taken up his comments which viewed the Opposition Leader making yet another U-Turn, he had to implant a snag into it. He started questioning whether it would be financially sustainable. Then last Sunday he was sniffing at the dogs again. The hospital has once again been claimed to be an uncalled necessity. It is to him a luxury of uncalled proportions. Why is this? Does it mean that according to Labour’s standards giving the Maltese the best is an uncalled provision? One ponders and could very well spend hours delving into whether the Opposition Leader, in his political attire, tries to steal the show by saying things which may either seem paradoxal or else totally out of context when compared to what he would have said days before. After all had it not been a Labour decision to double the size of the originally proposed hospital?

But then is Dr Sant himself unique? Is he a personified “state of the art” enigma? He may be unique in the sense that he seems to baffle so many through his political vision. His analysis of situations depend on the polls. His reaction to what and which stand the party is to take merely depends on whether it will help his party get the votes. Unfortunately principles and criteria do not seem to list as top priorities.

We have lived this through his policy and turn-abouts in so many important measures. Topping the list would be;-

• His original stand against party participation in Local Council elections;

• His promise to take off VAT only to introduce a higher form of taxation;

• The taking off of levies – only to re-propose their introductions in specific areas;

• His abhorrence at our joining the EU, only to now accept it and the funds coming therefrom;

• His policies against privatisation and liberalisation of the market;

• His non-acceptance of the fact that the pensions system needed reform;

• And so on.

During the last 15 years or so since he has been Leader of the Opposition, irreversible events seem to have brought him around to accepting changes which have happened; changes which needed to be addressed. Challenges needed to be taken up and addressed. Most of these have been surpassed by events and we believe them to be irreversible. But to Dr Sant, his reminiscence of the by-gone Labour governments, every now and then seem to see him uttering desires to return to the good old days.

But then were they really golden days?

They were the days which are remembered for:

• Payment of commissions for the acquisition of a telephone line;

• Payment of commissions over and above the price of a coloured television set;

• Acceptance in life to get along on the consumption of edibles imported through bulk-buying of third-class commodities;

• Available employment mostly under para-military conditions;

• Democratically refusing the then opposition party from expressing in views;

• The heavy-handedness of all those who did not agree with the Labour ideals;

• Governance of a nation by a party which had lost to the opposition party by an absolute majority of validly-cast votes in a general election;

• A record financial deficit during Dr Sant’s two-year stint at Castille; and

• A records mushrooming of utility bills when fuel was being sold at rock-bottom prices.

On the other hand, this government wants the island to be state of the art.

We have a vision for 2015.

We mean to excel.

These can only be attained under a Nationalist administration where we look forward, build on past experiences and plan for the future without leaving much to chance.