The past week, I contributed to the parliamentary debate on budget measures. It is the bill that will be concluded with a vote in Parliament on Wednesday. I am personally convinced that the vote will go through, and any election will not be held until at least October

Hopefully, the government will go on to finish the term in 2013. Obviously, a lot can happen until 9 May, as the story – or rather the saga – unfolds daily, and the Maltese are regaled with episodes on a daily basis.

Some parts of the media, such as the Labour Party’s One, keep quoting me badly. While I thank them for the marketing they are providing me, I am astonished about the expert way that they change what I say to mean the opposite of what I do actually say. They have become real professionals in fabricating lies. It’s amazing how my remarks and few words have such a resounding effect on the media involved.

A point I raised in the debate is the financial stability that ultimately must go into our Constitution. This has been agreed in principle by both parties .The point is to eliminate making empty electoral promises, especially as the election approaches. On my daily house visits, over the entire four-year plus period, I found out about many promises that were made by candidates and now also by the Labour Party. Last time round, some people were left out in the cold, which is unfair on the person and lets them down. It is totally immoral that people promise things when they know that these can never be achieved.

Therefore, when one acts professionally, one has to back up the promise with a financial background. A promise should have its proper costings done, and the people must know, as shown by the government, how that promise will be financed.

Let’s take Labour’s promise of reducing the water and electricity bill as an example. People talk about it. The more they talk about it, the better. But any average person would suddenly say: “OK, but who is to finance such a reduction?” Now that is a dirty question. They suddenly remember the VAT promise. Labour kept that promise, but by doing so it threw Malta into disarray by introducing what became known as the CET tax. Nobody understood this unworkable tax. So how will we pay less for our bills, still pay current rates for oil barrel purchases, and get no extra tax somewhere? We live in Malta, and not in Disneyland.

Let’s keep talking about it, as the credibility of this promise, without collateral tax inclusion, is very fragile and silly.

Government, on the other hand, should be more careful on its expenditure. Government spends taxpayers’ money; not personal money but people’s money. This should have an extra pressure on the individual spending such monies.

A third point made was about the VAT fines and regulations. They are harsh when the case is genuine, where maybe a company did not get paid for its services and went into a difficult cash flow situation, where sickness prevailed and the owner could not concentrate on his business, where recession hit hard. The law does not see individual cases, but punishes all in the same manner, maybe too harshly. I would make penalties and fines yes, but in proportion to the case, as we are all not equal, and we should be treated differently. Killing a business when one is not at fault is grave.

Another point I wished to mention is the area of compensation for land taken over by the Labour government and has not yet been paid for. Many years have passed but there is no indication as to when this compensation will be paid. The heirs of the original owners have complained and even gone to court to safeguard their rights, and their long-standing claims are still unsettled. I urge the government to see to these claims, and give a timeline to people on this subject. They do have a right that justice is done quickly.

Finally, I concluded my speech on open buses. We have tens of buses going round Malta and Gozo, with tickets being sold by some 150 sellers we have on pavements, public benches and in front of hotel entrances.

This has become an unregulated situation. Notwithstanding that the tour is a good idea, the repercussions are great. The foreign tour operator is becoming increasingly impatient. The sellers are bothering people on the pavements, near bus stops, as if the local open top tour is the eighth wonder of the world. The price war makes Malta sound worse than a flea market. I hope some form of regulation will be introduced.

Robert Arrigo is parliamentary assistant in the Finance Ministry