I just cannot believe the classic exercise in hypocrisy written by no other than Labour deputy leader Michael Falzon (TMID, 19 September).

He first boasts about all the hard work done by the MLP in order to arrive at this point in popularity (I suppose). I am almost sure that he is referring to the six hundred page compilation of ifs and maybes which the MLP have written and rewritten ad nauseam but when in government they failed to deliver.

He states that the Maltese are fed up with the way the Nationalist government does things. I am so grateful that Dr Falzon at least acknowledges that the Nationalist government ‘does things’. Indeed it does and much better than the MLP ever did.

He moaned about the wealth and prosperity generated by this government (thanks again) is not intended for general consumption. That sounds a bit better than the MLP’s proposal of being a government for only 50 per cent of the population, meaning their supporters and privileged friends. He says the economy is on the decline! Which planet is Dr Falzon living in? I read nothing but record travel abroad, record investments coming in, businesses doing well, more tourists, more five star hotels, better roads, more university students, bigger MCAST, new schools, new hospital and he calls all this a declining economy? He must be using the same faulty calculator as his leader’s.

Then he goes on to say that the MLP has become extremely popular because they are close to the people and contradicts himself by saying that this government is unable to create prosperity! First he says it is generating prosperity but not for all and a couple of sentences later he groans about the government’s inability to create prosperity!

In my dictionary, wealth and prosperity are only separated by the alphabetical order of their first letter. They go hand in hand and one cannot have one without the other. He goes on to say that economic activity is on the decline. If indeed the economy is on the decline, government revenue goes down, unemployment goes up, new investments disappear and the government will have little option but spend more and raise taxes. What I see happening is exactly the contrary.

He says that according to the IMF, Malta’s economy is ‘recuperating’. Here again he chooses to imitate his leader and go for the ‘half empty glass’ syndrome. Pessimism, negativism, doom and gloom. No one disputes that Malta’s economy went through a rough time but now, thanks to the Nationalist government, things have been turned around, there is more money, people are buying houses – and not cheaply – obviously affording monthly payments, new cars, more holidays and Dr Falzon still sees this as an economy in decline?

Putting a spin on what Dr Gonzi said about improving the quality of work, Dr Falzon saw this as an admission by the former that the jobs which are presently being created are of low quality! Tell that to the pharmaceutical, electronic and IT employees. Tell that to HSBC, SmartCity Malta who will create 5600 (low quality!?) jobs. Maybe he still prefers low paying jobs in the textile industry.

Then, of course, Dr Falzon could not resist throwing a bit of the mountain of mud the MLP is mired in and mentioned conflicts of interest, abuses etc. He conveniently forgot that whenever a perceived conflict was uncovered, this government was the first to investigate and when necessary referred the case to the police authorities. He forgot the trip to Dubai by the leaders of his own party tugging along some privileged contractors! Did that ever back-fire! He forgot the several ‘shadow ministers’ who have business connections with major contractors.

The Manwel Dimech bridge is the MLP’s most recent pet subject. Shame on the Nationalist government – the project is behind schedule! Better behind schedule than hurrying it up only to have to do it again in a few years’ time. Does he not remember the many streets paved with tar and gravel a few weeks before elections in the 70s and 80s only to be washed away after some heavy rains? How about the St Paul’s Bay bypass?

Of course according to Dr Falzon, a Labour government will fix everything pronto (but only for Labour supporters) and that it will be more than a cosmetic change. Indeed it would be. By his own admission it will be a fundamental shift in the way politics are done. If only Dr Falzon will tell us how!

The MLP has been crying wolf so often that if there is ever a valid reason to cry, no one will believe them. Instead of wasting so much time writing these inane articles would it not be better for Drs Falzon, Sant, Brincat et al. to make a list of projects they intend to carry out if in government, cost them out, tell us how they will be financed and what their ultimate benefit will be? What are they afraid of? The Nationalists would not wait to steal their ideas. They have more than ideas – they have a vision and the vision talked about five years ago is reality today.

One thing Dr Falzon did not mention, and I wonder why, is the electricity surcharge. As I write this, the price per barrel has gone up to $82.00. Does Dr. Sant still intend to slash the surcharge in half? Dream on.

The public knows better and as the saying goes ‘better deal with the devil you know than with the one you don’t’. We do not know what the MLP has up its sleeve; the electorate will not trust them because the MLP does not have enough trust in the people it preaches to. What the voters will remember forever is that it was the Nationalists who gave Independence to Malta, restored democracy lost in the 70s and 80s, entered Malta in the European Union and now is on its way to joining the soon to be the strongest currency in the world – the eurozone. I would not gamble all that for the MLP’s empty promises hatched in a panic in order to cover up sheer incompetence.

Joe Martinelli

Canada