That the cost of living is an argument that will be crucial for the outcome of the next general election was easy to predict. Both the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party have been mentioning the subject quite regularly these past few weeks, and more will no doubt be heard as the election draws nearer.

The Malta Labour Party has always made this subject one of the columns on which it tries to gather support. It has always portrayed itself as the party that tries to defend consumers’ interests and often advocated strict price control.

The Nationalist Party always looked at matters differently, preferring a liberalised market to give the people choices, and since taking over the country’s administration in 1987 it has worked in this direction.

But, it seems, that things have changed here too. Labour leader Alfred Sant has, more than once, recently said that the days of price control are long gone, although he did call for a mechanism that would protect consumers against prices spiralling out of control.

On the other hand, the Nationalist Party is dealing with the subject much more than it did in other similar situations, with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, last Sunday dedicating most of his speech to address the issue.

That the government is seeing the cost of living as being a determining factor in what the people will decide when they will finally cast their vote, could also be seen from the fact that a special meeting of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development will be discussing the matter, probably on Friday. The MLP has advocated the holding of such a meeting.

It is apparent that the Nationalist Party has realised that cost of living matters could sway the election against it unless it does something about it.

This is all the more so, considering that with the changeover to the euro on 1 January there is still a great risk that the people’s perception will be that prices will go up, irrespective of the agreement that thousands of products will still carry the same price until at least March, with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi last Friday also speaking about the possibility that this agreement could be extended further.

The fact that Dr Gonzi went into such detail last Sunday, to explain the thousands of investigations into possible price abuse that were carried out by the Consumer and Competition Division and the National Euro Changeover Committee, are a clear indication that the government wants to be seen as doing a great deal to curb price increases.

The government is defending itself by saying that most of the price increases registered over the past months were a direct result of fluctuations on the international market, especially those related to the rise in the prices of oil and cereals. Labour accepts this only in part, saying that it is true that such factors have contributed to the local upsurge, but at the same time brandishes statistics that show that in Malta prices have gone up more than they did in other European Union countries.

What is true, is that the Nationalist Party is giving the problem more attention than it has done in the past. Whereas there were times when the PN used to dismiss Labour’s claims and ignore the matter, or else say that it was part of the process of growth, this time it is showing much greater interest.

This means that it truly believes that the MLP is correct in making an issue out of the cost of living, and wants to show the people that, at least, it is trying to do something about it. Whether this “something” is enough to really curb price increases, and to gain political mileage, is another question.