It is a politically charged time for our country.

It is always like this every time an election is approaching, and this unfortunately always impinges on the country as a whole. It is no wonder that former Prime Minister, now President, Eddie Fenech Adami always anticipated the election by a few months. Better get it over and done with, was his line of reasoning.

With the resumption of Parliament after the summer recess, we have now entered the crucial phase, although of course, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is keeping us all guessing as to when the election will be held.

But, before the date is announced, Malta has to pass through another importance exercise – the presentation of the budget for 2008, which is certainly the last one before the end of this legislature.

Such as it is, many will expect the government to shower us with goodies. The country is doing well, its finances are in place, so much so, that Malta will join the eurozone in January, and the economy has picked up after a difficult time not so long ago. Many think its payback time.

The opposition is already raising expectations, saying that the government will dish out a popular budget to make up for difficult decisions taken earlier in the legislature and to try to win votes. Labour leader Alfred Sant has already given a list of measures he said the government should introduce, adding that unless it does so, the government will be taking the people for a ride when it said that the country was doing well.

It would be wrong, however, for the government to think in the short-term, rather than of the overall good of the country over a longer period of time. The country has had to go through great pains to arrive where it is today, and it would be risking a total collapse of what has been built so far if, just for the sake of going on a vote-catching exercise, the government goes for a colourful budget.

The people have had to make sacrifices in the past – and some would say that they are still doing so – for the nation to achieve what it did. Some think that the success the government is saying Malta has achieved has not filtered down to the people. There is a measure of truth in this, and the government would do well to address the issue. But, on the whole, these sacrifices would all have been in vain and would lead to worse scenarios if the government, irresponsibly, were to think of winning the election rather than keeping the country on a sound footing.

The budget that will be presented on Monday should be one that takes into account all that is happening around us, and the situation as it is at present does not allow for big risks. For one thing, the government must not put on blinkers and think solely of domestic issues per se, as these domestic issues are, by and large, affected by international developments.

The rise in the international price of oil and cereals is already, in itself, something that has had a great impact on our way or life and, unfortunately, on our pockets too. These global circumstances – which, as we have seen, are highly volatile – must be taken into serious consideration when the government presents the budget for 2008.

And therefore the government, any responsible government, must plan not only for the few months, (or weeks?), that separate the budget from the election, but also for what will happen afterwards.

The budget must correct, or attempt to correct, weaknesses, but at the same time it must also build on our strengths.