In a few months time we have to decide the future of our country – certainly a very important decision that cannot be taken lightly. It would be a huge mistake to think that whoever makes it to Castille will have little or no impact on the way we live and it would be naïve to think that now we have secured our place in Europe, the future will always be bright.

The decision in this general election boils down to who can give this country both prosperity and political stability. It is a clear-cut decision on whether to trust the PN or Labour.

Barely three years ago, Eddie Fenech Adami stepped down as Prime Minister and PN Leader and Lawrence Gonzi was appointed instead. It was no easy task for the new Prime Minister to step into the shoes of his predecessor, who had done an outstanding job at the helm of this country. Lawrence Gonzi had to take some very important decisions, first and foremost that of putting the country’s finances on a sound footing, reducing the deficit and then making Malta eligible for euro entry by 1 January 2008. Making Malta part of the eurozone was Lawrence Gonzi’s decision – a very ambitious target indeed. Yet he managed and did a terrific job. All the EU leaders who convened in Malta a few days ago to celebrate Malta’s entry into the eurozone area were visibly impressed by what Lawrence Gonzi, after just three years at the helm, has managed to achieve.

Certainly this new Prime Minister had to face some tough challenges. Only a couple of months after he took his seat at Castille, a leading manu-

facturing firm announced its decision to close down its operations in Malta and seek greener pastures in the Asian continent, where salaries and production costs are a fraction of those in Europe.

This meant that hundreds of workers were made redundant. Yet even here the new Prime Minister proved that he could rise to the occasion and turn what seemed to be a major

disaster into an opportunity.

Today, the country’s manufacturing industry has changed its focus from the traditional

textile industry to one based on services.

Under Lawrence Gonzi’s

premiership, Malta managed to attract what is by far the biggest foreign direct investment ever: Tecom Investments of Dubai announced their intention to invest no less than $300million in the Maltese economy by setting up an ICT and media city in the heart of Cottonera. In the next few years, this will create more than 5,600 new jobs. Pharmaceutical companies – loads of them – have set up base in Malta, as have those in the financial services sector which today is estimated to account for more than 12 per cent of our GDP.

Lawrence Gonzi’s premiership has been successful on all counts: education received a major boost thanks to the huge investment in the country’s educational set-up as did the health sector with the completion of the new Mater Dei Hospital and the investment in primary health

services.

A fine example of the success of the Gonzi premiership has been his ability to reverse a downward trend in tourism in 2005 to a record number of tourist arrivals last year. Some very difficult decisions had to be taken, including the introduction of low-cost

airlines and the aggressive marketing of Malta abroad.

Now that Malta is a member of the eurozone, we have become part and parcel of a huge market of millions of consumers that will pay dividends in tourism, business, financial services – you name it.

The future also looks promising, if Lawrence Gonzi is given the opportunity to realise his vision for Malta. His target is to make Malta “The Smart Island” in ICT by 2010 and he has already declared that, by 2015, Malta has to excel in no fewer than six main areas, including education, tourism and financial services, and Gozo is also to get its fair and well-deserved share.

On other hand, the MLP continues with its doom and gloom approach. This is the same party, with the same people, that in the past five years opposed Malta’s entry into the EU and into the eurozone.

It is the same party, with the same people, that has opposed progress every step of the way.

The choice for the electorate is therefore between stability and uncertainty, between vision and an obvious lack of foresight.

Before casting your vote, reflect on the track record and vision of our two major political parties and then decide your future and the future of your children and grand

children.