The local councils’ election campaign is now over. We are now debating the outcome of these same elections. The political parties draw their own conclusions, however, what is of utmost importance is that our towns and villages are run efficiently and in the interest of all citizens

While being local elections, conclusions on a national level are allowed and it is up to the politicians to take note of the outcome of these elections. In my opinion, the Labour Party embarked on a positive campaign in the interest of all families and for the betterment of our localities. On the other hand, the Nationalist Party was only concerned with a couple of local elections, mainly Mosta, Sliema and St.Paul’s Bay.

In its electoral manifesto the PN preached that it has the family at heart, however in reality at the very first opportunity the PN in government acted differently. Just some weeks after that, Parliament approved the budget for 2012. The European Commission asked the government to revise its budget by €40 million since the Commission had doubts about the figures submitted by the Minister of Finance and how the targets were going to be met. The same Minister on behalf of the government tried to say that this was a non event and then, when pressed harder, stated that the decrease will not affect the social expenses. I put a parliamentary question to the minister for the family and he replied that about €1.4 million will be deducted from a number of allocations, mostly those which deal with social cases. Among this €715,000 will be deducted from Appoġġ, Sedqa and Support.

It seems that after the PN extraordinary council where we saw the farce of an election for the leader of the party, there was a change in the attitude and discourse of the GonziPN leader. After four years of policies which were not in the interest of families and after ignoring completely what the Opposition and the people tried to say to the government, it seems that GonziPN has become aware of the current problems that families are facing. But is this attitude changing out of conviction or for political convenience?

I am sure that this is happening purely for political convenience since the local elections in half of Malta and Gozo were quickly approaching and now, of course, the general elections will follow in the coming months. GonziPN will once again try to deceive the people into trusting him by saying a lot of nice things. But we all know that actions speak louder than words. And we have another clear example of this. It is not only important to speak about the family but one has also to act in their interest. The reduction in the social budgets is a clear example of this. This reduction will undoubtedly have an impact on families, especially those who are vulnerable and those who need most attention and care.

To make us believe that what GonziPN is now preaching comes from the heart and out of conviction, the government needs to reverse these reductions and start acting in the interest of the families. Unless this is done, GonziPN is only campaigning to retain power to continue helping the clique.

In the last day of the electoral campaign, while Joseph Muscat was speaking at the Granaries in Floriana, I was delighted to represent Dr Muscat and the Labour Party together with my wife for the 60th anniversary of the ordination of Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mercieca to the priesthood. It was a nice and well-attended gathering where, in the presence of the President of the Republic, we thanked him for his service. Surprisingly, no one from the PN was present for this event. The Labour Party appreciates the work done by Archbishop Emeritus Mercieca especially in the wake of the Church interdiction in the 1960s. The same Archbishop had the courage to ask for pardon for what the Church had done. One has to note that the PN, which was the main beneficiary of the interdiction and perhaps also the prime mover from behind the scenes, never asked pardon for what happened in those times.

The Labour Party as a progressive movement looks ahead to better times and appreciates the work of others. Our aim is not to win an election but to do what is best for the country. To do this, of course, the party needs to be in government since that is the means of how to achieve our goals. This is a project that should not only belong to the Labour Party but also to those who have at heart the country’s interest first and foremost. And that is why I appeal to all these people to come forward to join the Labour Party and the movement which is growing, with the aim of achieving our common goals.

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

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