On a yearly basis, the US President delivers a speech which is called the state of the union. It is a very important speech as it gives an overview of the country’s situation and the main issues and difficulties for the future

I believe that it is high time that the Maltese, in the current economical and political circumstances, do the same and analyse whether the current state of affairs is beneficial to the country or not. Some might argue that given the circumstances, Malta is not doing badly. This is the political argument of the GonziPN clique and its acolytes. Mainly, they base their arguments on what other countries are experiencing, because these same countries are demanding help and bail-outs from the European Union. This same clique governing the country does not mention other countries that are still doing better than we are. Moreover, they will not delve into details of what is happening in our country and what are the hardships and the burdens that most of our families have been experiencing for a number of years now.

I will not mention the state of finances since it is a given that most people admit that our finances are not in a sound situation, with the national debt continuously increasing and the deficit, with some creative accounting, apparently on target. But now the economy seems to have let us down as well, as it is clearly shown in published official figures.

Our economy is in a recession. This, of course, is not good news for anyone. We have now known for years, that the economy, broadly speaking, was passing through difficult times. Various sectors of the economy have been and are still experiencing problems. Another related problem is cash flow. I meet people who are in business who have a cash flow problem, both in paying their employees and also to be paid by others for services and works rendered.

As I see it, the problem is not only the current state of the economy, but also its future. I am curious to hear and see the plans of the GonziPN clique in government about the prospects of the economy for the future and what their plans are for the economy to grow and how it is going to grow. Are we investing correctly and effectively in our education system when we know that the results for almost one fourth of the students leave much to be desired in a knowledge based economy? These issues are not being tackled and if they are, we know nothing about what is happening. Those who are governing the country today must make this clear and not expect that others do so.

Promises made years ago are still not implemented. One of the most mentioned projects was that of Smart City. Now we are aware of the issues that led to this project to be delayed and as such, the thousands of jobs are still on the drawing board. The GonziPN clique in government is mainly responsible for this failure. This project will help the economy a lot if it is implemented without any further delays. Of course, some of the problems in our economy are due to the international situation; however the Maltese government was in a better position than other governments, since we did not need to bail out banks due to the sound base of our banking system which goes back decades.

We know that the Maltese are very hard-working and this is an asset. It is in difficult times that we Maltese show our best. I meet businessmen who would like to invest in their small and medium-sized company to induce growth and in turn, employ more people. But instead of finding help and encouragement from the government and its entities, on the contrary, these are hindering investment. The reason, I am led to believe, is not only bureaucracy but also the protection of others who might gain from not having others competing with their own company. This is not good and government officials and others know about it.

But what is the clique of GonziPN doing to resolve these issues? They are far more interested in remaining in power for as long as they can rather than tackle the everyday issues that the country is passing through.

The Prime Minister knows that this situation is untenable. The problem is not the opposition, as he and his clique try to make us believe. The problem is his style of leadership, which not only created disruptions in the country but also within his party and the PN parliamentary group. As some editors and other opinion writers said, the earlier a solution is found the better. The options are very few, if any.

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

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