In the United States last year they had and still have the fiscal cliff.  This popular shorthand term was used to describe the conundrum that the U.S. government had to face at the end of last year 2012.  In Malta we have the PBS cliff since the Public Broadcasting Services is procrastinating in being bias in favour of the GonziPN clique to the detriment of the Partit

Laburista.  It is doing so even more in the official electoral campaign in spite of receiving a number of warnings to abide by the rules and regulations of impartiality by the Broadcasting Authority.  In trying to defend the status quo that is to give an advantage to the GonziPN clique PBS took the Authority to the Law Courts.

It seems that PBS via the people that were appointed to decide by the same GonziPN Clique, managed to create an insurmountable mountain and not a cliff that even the Broadcasting Authority is finding it impossible to climb in its efforts to balance the national media prior the general election of the 9th of March.  It is evident in the way discussion programmes are conducted and how the news is presented to the general public, who after all is paid by the Maltese taxpayers, is not at all balanced.

One does not need to have a degree in communications to notice how the so called Public Broadcasting Services is being bias in favour of GonziPN to the detriment of other political parties especially the Partit Laburista.  Just one example of how low and cheap PBS became was the news bulletin of last Saturday.  I am not going to bring to your attention the whole news bulletin but just the last part of it where in the end it seems that PBS had to report what the Broadcasting Authority said in respect of irregularities in a current affairs programme.  

The notice from the BA was read in such a speedy way that one can hardly follow even if he gave his full attention.  Unlike the Authority’s notice the reaction from the management of PBS was read very differently.  How can we continue like this?  Can the Public Broadcasting Services continue to ignore and as such be above the law in the final weeks before an election?  The PBS is being a very good acolyte to the GonziPN clan and those who were appointed by the same are being very good and servile servants of their master.

Of course the electoral campaign continued in spite of this fact and Joseph Muscat as leader of the Partit Laburista continued with his positive message.  It is a message of unity and that all Maltese should strive to better their own country.  We need to learn to work together something which at present it is not happening where only a small group of people is running the country. 

GonziPN is constantly repeating that it was only during his time that good things happened in this country and that before his time nothing significantly or that the country benefitted from it occurred.  Of course this is far from the truth.  We need to move forward and look ahead.  I am not afraid of talking about the past history of Malta which definitely does not start from 1971 but also during those times that GonziPN mentions in a very divisive and obscure manner, a lot of good things happened.

Another cliff of the Maltese society is poverty.  This is one thing that GonziPN did not mention during this electoral campaign.  Facts show that under his leadership poverty is rising and continued to rise in these years.  The caretaker Prime Minister did not mention that under his ‘safe pair of hands’ poverty rose to 88,000 persons.  It also has to be said that if it was not for the social transfers, that is the social benefits that were introduced in this country by previous Labour administrations, the number of those in poverty would be much higher.  Gonzi during this campaign did boost himself about the fact that the expenditure for the social benefits rose.  However he did not mention that this happened for two reasons.

One has to say that the increase was not due to new social services or related measures.  First reason for this increase is due to the fact that the beneficiaries increased due to demographic changes for example the increase in pensioners.  Secondly and perhaps this is the most significant, because every beneficiary receives the statutory increase in the cost of living, which guarantee was also introduced by a Labour government in the past.

And this is another reason why the Maltese electorate needs to vote for a new government that can bring a change for the better.  We as a movement are committed to build a new middle class.  This is because we want to once again fight poverty and eradicate it from the Maltese society.  And that is why the Partit Laburista is presenting its proposals to the Maltese people with the intention to build a new and just society where accountability by the political class will be the order of the day, create new opportunities for all and not just for the clique as is happening under this administration and finally to have a sound social justice system that caters first and foremost for the most needy and disadvantaged.

Carmelo Abela MP is Labour Main Spokesperson for Social Policy & Labour candidate for the 2nd & 3rd districts

Email: [email protected]