What makes the forthcoming PL congress a real first of its kind is the fact that all PL members will have the opportunity to put forward their own ideas in order to contribute actively and directly in the formulation of the main goals and objectives on which the final electoral manifesto

will be based.

It will be a congress where your ideas matter

This in no way implies that we as a party or as a parliamentary group have taken a back seat. On the contrary, many ideas have been put forward, given due consideration, and assessed as to whether they are feasible and doable in order to ensure that when the time comes we will come forward with a set of sustainable proposals rather than a wishlist.

The people that I meet from all walks of life – irrespective of their political orientation – have found this new approach at once fresh and innovative.

It is a further sign of the opening up process being adopted by the PL leadership.

While many politicians from both sides might be good talkers, we need to be better listeners too.

This does not mean becoming populist, as some are implying that we have done.

On the contrary, we need to continue coming across as we already are doing as the party that represents the interests of the real people from all walks of life.

If in the past, some used to look down on the so-called working class, as the middle class emerged – and is now seriously shrinking and under threat of even being marginalised completely – we must reach out to all sectors of society.

Admittedly, there were times when the PL might have been perceived as the party of the underclass and the downtrodden. But times have changed and the PL has long adapted to these new realities.

There is room for people from all walks of life in the PL movement even if they might hold different opinions on certain specific issues.

On the contrary, I know of many people who have moved closer to the PL mainly as a result of certain single issues that we have embraced and promoted actively.

While in no way implying that those with rather conservative views have no place within the Labour movement, the PL should feel proud that it has championed over the years the most liberal and progressive causes among the two main political parties represented in Parliament.

A new Labour government will be committed to promoting entrepreneurship, job creation and a thriving private sector, since the days when governments could do it all on their own are gone.

If anything, the government should be a mere facilitator even though it will continue to carry and shoulder the responsibility of providing a social safety net for those who need support. At the same time, this does not mean that we shall be promoting benefit fraud.

Anyone who argues this way will be adopting the same over-simplistic approach of those who are claiming – with a purpose – that if the PL had to revise its utility rates it would be running counter to the mere notion of promoting energy efficiency.

The programme of the forthcoming congress speaks for itself in the sense that it will be devoting much time and attention to various issues and sectors – ranging from economic growth to health, energy and environmental issues, education, youth, the Labour market, citizen-based initiatives, senior citizens, family-based concerns and challenges as well as civil liberties.

Rather than being reactive, we need to be proactive in the ideas that should lead to the formulation of the roadmap that is expected to be shaped during the 14-23 September congress.

Even those who are not paid-up members of the PL have warmed to this process when I discussed it with them.

Most importantly we need to instil new confidence and hope in the electorate that has been at the end of a battering ram during the past years; mainly as a result of misguided policies and a wrong set of government priorities.

Obviously, wherever a future PL government will find positive results it will consolidate such achievements further, fine tuning them in the process and ensuring that it will help maximise their potential.

One area that comes to mind is an area that certain elements close to the PN are trying to sow doubts about – e-gaming. Rumours have been long going round that a future PL government would be a threat to such a sector.

Apart from the fact that this would be sheer madness since this is a major source of revenue for government, the PL has only one objective – that of raising our quality of life mainly through a more proactive and dynamic private sector both in the services and manufacturing sector.

We definitely need far more PPPs (public private partnerships) since to date these seem to have been somewhat restricted to old people’s homes and roundabouts together with landscaping projects. Worthy as they might have been.

I recently shared the views that Joseph Muscat expressed when he met a Chinese delegation at the CNL. He made the point that although we are committed to strengthening our role within the EU we need to be innovative and proactive in our bilateral relations; particularly with such strategic partners as the USA, China and Russia.

All offer considerable economic opportunities too.

I was somewhat disappointed when I recently read how the Chinese are set to become the biggest spenders as record numbers of them have been heading overseas in past years, months and days. As a report filed from Beijing pointed out, this is mainly the result of an economic boom resulting from their expanding middle class. A Western journalist even predicted that the Chinese are on the verge of leapfrogging the Germans and Americans to become the nation whose tourists spend the most money overseas as the idea of foreign travel has been capturing the imagination of millions of newly affluent citizens of theirs. I am saying so with a touch of envy, since in spite of our long-standing excellent relations with this country, we have not been sufficiently proactive in promoting inward tourism to Malta to reap the benefits of such strong political links. Particularly, when the surge of Chinese tourists is currently being felt in all types of countries – from South Africa to neighbour countries Italy and France.

These are only some of the positive challenges that loom ahead of us.

The future is there for us to shape together.

As a former Nationalist voter told me last Friday, the negativism being instilled by some usual suspects is merely a symptom of people who have ran out of steam and ideas, and are merely doing their damn best to paper over their own mediocrity.

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www.leobrincat.com

Leo Brincat is the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development & Climate Change