At the start of this election, my hope was that this would be a positive campaign, with a serious debate about the future of the country. My desire was that both parties would be judged by their policies, on what they wanted to do in the next five years. The people deserve to have a clear choice on the issues that matter to them, and the political parties have a responsibility to present and explain their thoughts and ideas.

But what has it become? However much the PL has strived to maintain a positive campaign, the PN has decided to make it negative all the way. They are finding it hard to defend their record in office, which is understandable, but the way they have launched smear after smear campaign and tried to tarnish decent people is beyond the pale. They hope to create a smokescreen and bully their way through.

It must be very unpleasant for some individuals caught up in all this. But there is a far larger group of people being treated with contempt: the electorate. The Maltese people deserve much better. We deserve grown-up politics with sensible debate. The country needs a new way forward that the clique that has run the country cannot give. The people can see that the PN is in a desperate state, as it is resorting to underhand tactics, and they will judge them accordingly.

During this campaign it was evident from the outset that the GonziPN clique was only interested in attacking any proposal made by Labour. Positivity is not on the clique’s agenda. This is a symptom of a clique that is only interested in clinging to power, irrespective of what it may cost, irrespective of the people’s needs.

The campaign has also exposed the real thinking of this clique. The governing clique will see whether your face is red or blue. Branding people is part of the clique’s ways. This is unacceptable. This way of thinking completely excludes meritocracy.

Arrogance has become a way of life under the PN. It’s now reached the stage that when the PBS is told off for its unfair coverage, it reacts by asking the chairman of the Broadcasting Authority to resign! This would be laughable if it wasn’t also a serious example of the political control that the PN exerts and believes it has the right to exert. The concept of fair play has become a distant memory for the clique.

One can list various examples how the so-called national television station is being used as a PN propaganda tool. The topics that are chosen in current affairs programmes, the manner in which the PL message is reported, the slant that is given to every issue during the campaign. Breaching impartiality is the order of the day or PBS bosses have given a new meaning to impartiality.

The people will deliver their verdict on 9th March. Hopefully, they will try to put the smear campaign at the back of their minds and concentrate on what really matters. They need to decide if they want cleaner energy and much lower utility bills. They need to decide if money should be invested in schools, health services and childcare rather than buildings without roofs and surplus-to-requirement parliaments and bridges to nowhere. And they need to think about the society they would like Malta to be, one where people count, where red tape is cut, where social justice is a priority. These are the issues that the election should be about.

The PN can go on throwing mud and behaving in an arrogant way, but they aren’t the judge and jury. The electorate will finally choose. On a positive note, I’m putting my trust in the people. They can tell the difference between what is right and what is wrong at the end of the day. Yes, we are ready to serve the people in the interest of the people.

Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi is the President of the Labour Party