One can easily say that the country is debating the current political impasse and that the crisis has become even worse.

Everyone is asking what’s next and what is going to happen? To this question, only the Prime Minister can answer. However, the Prime Minister has to have a clear mind to decide on the best way forward and not to think in the interest of his party and political carrier but in the interest of the country.

Once, Napoleon Bonaparte was quoted as follows: - “Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.” And this is the attitude that Gonzi is being guided with. In the last general elections GonziPN worked hard to grasp a last minute win and this was achieved. Therefore, he is afraid to end his reign before the end of this legislature and before being prepared for a general election.

But who is losing out as a result of the PM’s attitude? Definitely not the Labour Party; but in fact, the country does. It was in the spirit of what is best for the country that the Labour Party took the necessary action when it presented the motion of no-confidence, since the country needs stability. After that vote, we do not have the stability that the country needs, especially to preserve jobs and to attract investment locally and from abroad.

And that is why the Leader of the Opposition, soon after the vote, told the Prime Minister that the way forward is to call on to the President to dissolve parliament and call an early election. But until now it seems that GonziPN is very much attached to his seat and does not want to lose the power that he managed to win quite unexpectedly last time. GonziPN and his clique have a lot to lose if they are not in power. And that is why we are living in a democracy Gonzi style. The way that Gonzi projects himself as being democratic and by saying that what he is doing is serving the country, is only to try to convince us that an early election is not needed. However, the reality is that he is trying to avoid an early election, not for the country’s interests but for his own partisan reasons.

The current political crisis is not due to the Opposition but due to the leadership style of GonziPN. His leadership style during this legislature led to dissent from a number of Nationalist Members of Parliament. Now, as a consequence, we are experiencing this crisis which the country does not need.

When Lawrence Gonzi became leader of his party, he promised a new way of doing things. This promise, like many others, did not materialise at all. Not only, but the opposite happened. The problem is that Gonzi also happened to be the Prime Minister and not just the leader of his party and this bad way of doing things is also being experienced on a national level. While the Prime Minister is accusing Joseph Muscat that he wants to become prime minister, it is quite obvious that it is the Prime Minister who does not want to risk his position and is trying to batten down the hatches.

So while he speaks about being of service, he is at the same time doing a disservice to the country through the current instability that we are experiencing. If he really believes that being in politics is to be of service to the country and the people, then he has to read the signs of the times and call an election as soon as possible so the country can move forward. In other European countries which had political problems, elections or a change in government were the solutions. Malta should be no exception.

At the same time the PN is trying to exploit the situation by making references to the 1998 crisis and what happened in 1981, they are doing much worse since they are trying to remain in power notwithstanding the fact that the government lost its majority in Parliament. The Labour Party always proved that the country comes before the interests of the party and when it was necessary to resign or change the rules of the game such as amending the electoral legislation, we did so for democracy to always prevail.

I appeal to the government, especially the Prime Minister, to be responsible to the country rather than his party and to do what is best for the country. An early election will definitely bring more stability than the current stalemate that the country is experiencing.

Carmelo Abela is Labour Party MP and Shadow Minister for Social Policy

[email protected]