Next Monday a Prime Minister will be sworn in. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Palace in Valletta. This is a given and very few things can change this. The only question, until next Saturday, is who is going to be our Prime Minister? We are assigned with the task of choosing the next Prime Minister and the choice should not be a very complicated one because there are in fact only two major contenders - Dr Lawrence Gonzi and Dr Alfred Sant. It is crunch-time now and decisions have to be taken. There is no avoiding or delaying them. The time is up … whether or not we cast our vote a decision will be taken.
We are coming to the conclusion of a short but very intense electoral campaign and I would think that many of us will be relieved when it is over. All the TV & radio stations have deluged us with debates, ads, messages and voice clips for our entertainment. Candidates like myself have been inviting ourselves into peoples’ living rooms, kitchens and doorways to deliver a short presentation on the virtues of voting for us. However, an electoral campaign is a serious affair because we are deciding upon the way our country is to be run and how our collective decisions will affect certain aspects of our lives for the next five years.
On Saturday, all the surveys will no longer count, and the impressions given by me and other politicians will also no longer count, because what will count will be the result of the election from the votes cast. That result will have to stay with us for the next five years and will answer the question of who is going to be our Prime Minister, and consequently which party will have the responsibility for moving this country forward.
Although I have tried to be objective in analysing this campaign, I still feel that based on what was said and printed, the Nationalist Party should have a walk over. However, because of traditional reasons PN will not have a walk over, but has to campaign for every vote. Why am I saying this? I am saying this because Labour has run what I call a tippex campaign – declaring one thing, then correcting it immediately. Misprints and corrections have riddled Labour’s campaign. Furthermore, name calling which traditionally used to be limited to politicians, has now been extended to all PN supporters, whose DNA is being reviled, and University students and their parents are being looked down upon by the MLP elite as hamalli. In any other civilised country, Dr Alfred Sant and his Labour party would not even remotely stand a chance of succeeding. Notwithstanding this Dr Alfred Sant is still a contender to become Prime Minister.
I firmly believe that the Nationalist Party stands the best chance of winning the next election by concentrating on the achievements that it had in the past five years in government. Public finances are in control. The economy is well on its way to boom. All major projects have been concluded and we have made a success out of EU membership. Therefore, I believe that people should vote for the Nationalist Party to retain and build on these achievements. Notwithstanding this we are in competition with another major Party and comparing notes is only natural. The Labour Party wants a new beginning … sounds attractive, but Labour is not saying what is to follow after the new beginning. Labour promises a new beginning on the EU Accession Treaty. Irrespective of whether this is possible or otherwise, Alfred Sant is not promising and cannot guarantee a better Accession Treaty. Alfred Sant is promising a new economy, but from his past experience and from his silence, he is not stating whether he is guaranteeing a better economy, whether he will attract better jobs, whether he will attract more investment. Alfred Sant is promising a new beginning in our water and electricity bills, but he is not guaranteeing that these will be cheaper, and he is also not guaranteeing that he will not raise anything else.
Therefore, a new beginning may not automatically result in a better ending. Do you really think that Malta and your personal situation will be better for the next general elections in 2013 after next Saturday?
I do not have a crystal ball, and cannot predict the future, but I am contesting the general election with the Nationalist Party here and now, because I sincerely believe that Dr Lawrence Gonzi is the man who can lead this country safely to allow it to develop. I am not only contesting in order to assure the Nationalist Party are voted in, but I am volunteering myself to have an active part in ensuring that Malta continues to succeed and that everybody participates in this success.
Therefore, next Saturday the choice is yours. But make sure that you make the right choice for yourself and for those whose future well-being depends upon you. There will be no turning back!
Dr Malcolm Mifsud is president of the College of Councillors of the Nationalist Party and a Candidate on the 1st District.