This past week the focus was on the budget speech and the measures announced by the government. As usual we had both sides of the same coin being discussed, and the viewers making a somewhat difficult decision

The backdrop of this budget is the current economic and now even political situation in Europe – the ever changing scenarios around us, both south and north, and the forecast for the foreseeable future, a future that does not go beyond six months, as anything beyond that is uncertain territory.

This budget was therefore a good one, making a small step into our future. It is a small step towards slight growth in a scenario of recession, a drop in growth and a step backwards in nearly all the countries. Now we need these European countries to get back in line and on their feet. Let us not forget that we trade with them, both in exports and imports, and this includes tourism.

Budget measures this year targeted the family, working parents, children and people over 80. The micro invest schemes will be enhanced too. More than the details of who gets what, from what and from where, the people’s overall judgment is that the government has handled the situation well. It is so important to note that the Nationalist government worked through four years of recession, economic crisis, one after each other, and the various wars, earthquakes and volcanoes as side salads.

It has shown that to sail a ship in rough weather you need to think hard, be a bit rough and take difficult and unpopular decisions. That unpopularity has now been transposed into a cautious optimism.

The government was extremely unpopular on the water and electricity bills. It seemed nothing else mattered in life except for these bills.

It’s true that they hit hard. Today, we may reap the dividends as we have maintained what we gained over the years and made that proverbial small step forward.

Contrary to that, of course, you have an Opposition who issued its Father Christmas list of wishes. It was like writing to Santa. The letters are normally written by children who do not see the bigger picture, and to them the world stops at their Christmas present. The child does not appreciate that his or her parents must work a lot to give what they can. And that’s what is happening with the Opposition.

It’s lovely to read all those wishes, but how to do them and when was never said. We cannot lead Malta into a blind alley, as the Pied Piper would do.

The  floating voters, the intelligent voter know on which side the bread is buttered, and where the bread is stale.

Thinking about Christmas, I wish all your readers, who patiently go through my articles over the year, a very happy Christmas to them and their families. A word of thanks also goes to those persons who have joined me in my activities over the year.

We do hope in a good 2012, a year which is difficult to predict, and I assume that only after the first 3 months are done will we have an inkling of what Europe will be, politically and economically. Europe already lost three prime ministers. They are difficult times for everybody.

Robert Arrigo is parliamentary assistant in the Finance Ministry