I usually do my best to be as optimistic as possible when writing my first article of the year but this year I feel that being too optimistic would mean that I am not realistic. The reality is that this year the Maltese families will have to face tough difficult times, primarily due to the hefty tariffs they will have to pay for their water and electricity services.

Unfortunately such decision taken by the Gonzi administration will continue to hinder our quality of life.

The recent increase in the utility rates will not just be reflected in an increase in the bills but also in prices. I am sure that a lot of businesses are not able to absorb the rise in the utility rates, with the first option being that of increasing the price of their goods or services. Even from the reaction of the social partners, we can understand that the government simply ignored the social and economic impact that his decision will eventually leave.

The year 2009 will be remembered for a lot of facts. Among these we find the drastic increase in the rate of inflation. Month after month Maltese consumers had to face themselves with one of the highest rates of increase in prices in the euro zone area. In particular months, our economy continued to register an increase in the rate of inflation despite the fact that a lot of EU countries were registering a deflation.

Unfortunately the irresponsible decisions taken by the Gonzi administration does not prospect a positive New Year and one can envisage the same old problems and difficulties for the year 2010. As opposed to the Maltese government, a lot of European countries are helping the families and economy, mainly by reducing the water and electricity bills, but the Gonzi administration is just an exception.

During the past year the government has never been sensitive towards the challenges people were facing each day, whereby the situation could possibly worsen. Nowadays it is a well known fact that the Gonzi administration, post the 2008 election, was more concerned with the internal conflicts, which continued to degenerate after the European parliament election and which could possibly intensify due to the cabinet reshuffle.

Although some may argue that such an argument is characterised by partisan politics, in reality this situation is affecting our everyday life. This situation of instability, which also featured with prominence in the economic intelligence unit report, is paralysing the Gonzi administration and deflecting it from the citizens’ concerns and problems.

In light of such situation I will end this article with an optimistic note. The Labour Party will continue to defend your rights. The Labour Party will continue to commit itself to be the Party which works for consumer protection, the party that fights the ‘corruption tax’, the party which guarantees an accessible and free good health service for everyone, the party which ensures that our environment would not continue to be exploited and above all the Party which will struggle for a better quality of life for all of us.

Silvio Parnis is Labour spokesman for consumer affairs