Two more days and the year 2008 will be over. This time of every year is the time when we look back and reflect on the year that will soon end and of course peep into the New Year, which will soon start. Understandably, we keep repeating the same hopes and wishes that the next year will be better than the current one. These are good wishes and all of us need to do our bit to have a better year.

Looking back this was the year of the general election and a number of changes occurred in my party due to its outcome. In assessing a whole year one must have a wider perspective. Each one of us will assess how the current year was on a personal level. But we should not ignore both the national and the international perspectives since these also affect our every day life.

Of special interest was, and I must stay still is, the international scene especially after the crisis that erupted in the second half of this year. This affected and will continue to affect more or less each and every country. Economists, politicians and other experts all are trying to find ways and means how to overcome the crisis that we are experiencing. However one thing is certain – there are no more sacred creeds. People who used to preach about how the market should lead and drive every economy, now are looking differently at things.

The classic example may be the United States, where public funds are being allocated to intervene in private companies. But even in Europe we have politicians like the Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi who was quoted saying that state intervention is no longer a sin but a necessity. This is a slight example of how the world changed in such a short period of time. However time will tell whether we have learned the lesson. But now for sure the time is to say goodbye to year 2008 while hoping that the New Year will be a better one for all of us. Of course this is my wish to you as well.

Far West

In the last few weeks we had a number of accidents with guns. Locally, it is not so often that we hear this kind of news. When such accidents happen the first thing that comes to mind is to reflect on the number of weapons in hand and the reason why these people have a gun. These are not toys and one has to be very cautious when issuing a licence for a person to have a gun or some sort of a firearm.

The reasons behind these accidents were different. It seems that some were due to family matters, another accident had to do with internal quarrels among PN supporters. Whatever the reason, we should not tolerate that our society becomes like the Far West where if someone wants to do justice or have his right one uses a firearm.

Fees and rates

Almost on Christmas Eve the Malta Financial Services Authority, in the presence of the Finance Minister, announced new registration rates and annual fees for small businesses and larger ones. While it seems that the small businesses are going to benefit from a reduction as from 1 January, one cannot say the same thing with respect to companies which have a share capital of more than e10,000. The increases will vary according to the size of the company but some are going to experience an increase of 43 per cent. It seems that the details still need to be published; however personally I do believe that keeping the current situation in mind one needs to be cautious before imposing these higher rates.

Internationally we have governments doing what it takes to help private companies in carrying the burden. I believe that the Maltese government at least should not impose higher taxes, tariffs or whatever these are called on companies and industry since these might be of a burden to some more than others. In these difficult times one must act cautiously and the main aim should be to safeguard jobs and competitiveness.

Republic Day

On 13 December we celebrated Republic Day. This was an important event since the Head of State became a Maltese person and as such we can say that this was another step to accomplish our full independence. The final step was when the British military forces left our islands and we became masters of all parts of our islands. This was also the fifth and as such the last Republic Day of the current President.

In his short speech he spoke about his presidency, what Malta went through politically in these last five years, the general election and the economic crisis and the reasons behind it. Finally he also congratulated the people who were honoured with the membership in the National Order of Merit. Of course, I join the President in congratulating them for this honour while wishing that in the future the choice of the persons to honour will be a better one.

In the end I would also like to congratulate the Armed Forces of Malta for their display in St George’s Square. They sure make us proud not only during these national festivities but also in their day-to-day work.

Carmelo Abela is Deputy Speaker and Labour main spokesperson for industry and foreign investment

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