They were at each other’s throats all through last week, neither of them missing an opportunity to issue statements or make public addresses on what should, after all, be something they both agree upon.

Investments, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt and the Malta Labour Party spokesman on foreign affairs Leo Brincat, were the protagonists of constant attacks on each other – at a political level – following initiatives that have been taken, or are to be taken by the government in the IT sector.

It all started when the government announced that it would be subsidising a scheme offering broadband internet access for e3 per month for a one-year timeframe to families who do not yet have a service. This was branded by Mr Brincat as an electoral gimmick and he accused Dr Gatt of political opportunism, pushing the minister to reply that the MLP was against helping families get internet services.

It did not stop there. In another statement, Mr Brincat said that a scheme offering old computers to needy families at cheap prices was in the offing, again aimed to earn election votes. Dr Gatt was quick to reply once again, saying that all of Labour’s criticism revealed its true colours, that of being anti-technology, a claim that was refuted by Mr Brincat.

Both Dr Gatt and Mr Brincat are outspoken people, and it takes little to get them going. They are also among the more dynamic personalities within their own party too. The fact that they happen to be their respective political party’s top man in a particular sector – information technology – makes this one of the most hotly-debated subjects on the island.

The thing is that, at times, both tend to go overboard in their declarations, and this of course does not encourage healthy debates on a topic which, after all, is so crucial to the development of the country in economic terms.

Mr Brincat claims the government wants to earn votes by subsidising internet services to 5,000 families and by offering computers at discounted rates. He seems to have forgotten that the MLP in government had dished out, not computers or internet services at subsidised rates, but 8,000 jobs in the public service a week or two before the 1987 election, which, over so many years, certainly cost the country much more than e17 per month per family (the cost of the government subsidy for the internet scheme).

For his part, Dr Gatt described the MLP as being anti-technology. Yes, there was a time when the MLP was in government when it was thought that computers would reduce jobs, but things have changed and the MLP now acknowledges the importance of the development of the IT sector. And, yes, the MLP was initially sceptical about the SmartCity project, which it had originally described as speculation in property, but it did end up voting in favour of the project in Parliament.

Information technology should be one of those subjects on which there should not be so much political controversy. The two sides share a lot of common ground on the subject. The MLP must realise that the country has made giant steps forward in this sector, and it should be the first to admit that it will continue to build on the government’s successes if it wins the election.

IT should not be a political football, and in the past the opposition did support the government in initiatives that were taken in this regard.

Yet it seems that the fact that the election is so close is pushing both sides to act differently to the way they would in normal circumstances, even on subjects on which they should agree.