Were Saturday’s general election to be fought on purely economic matters, there is no question about which is the best option for Malta.

The past years have seen Malta emerging as one of the best players among the eurozone countries in the midst of a crisis that has been both severe and unprecedented.

Malta has continued to register growth where other, bigger, countries have seen double-dip or even treble-dip recessions.

Up till a few weeks ago, Malta continued to register among the lowest unemployment figures in the eurozone. (This has now changed and from fourth lowest, Malta has now slided to seventh lowest).

There is no question that the outgoing administration should receive the grateful approbation by the population for striving so hard to preserve the economy from the fierce storms outside and for taking those policy decisions that have enabled industries to restructure and find new markets instead of closing down or relocating to other countries.

So too, the outgoing administration (and also the sector itself) should be praised for the great strides registered by the financial services sector which has now put Malta far above its weight on the international scene.

Lastly, the outgoing administration has bravely tackled the deficit issue and brought it down to below the Maastricht criteria levels, where other governments, other countries are still struggling to do that.

Considering all this, there is absolutely no doubt that the policies that have been followed were unquestionably the best in the circumstances for our country. Nor is there any room for doubt that what is needed by our country is continuity rather than change so that our country continues to benefit from the policies that have worked and also to see the policies that were adopted in most recent years begin to bear fruit. This refers, for instance, to policies regarding the training and further education of our young people which will go a long way to furnish the country with the skills and the abilities that will be required.

Unfortunately, the policies as have been proposed by the party in Opposition are not, in our opinion, as conducive to the country’s ongoing growth in continuity. Though the Opposition has its own reasons for proposing change (about which, more later) the country needs more continuity than change. Its policies in the economic sphere have proved to be the right ones needed so what is needed for the future are more policies in continuity with the ones that have been used so far.

The Opposition has based much of its electoral appeal on its plans for a reduction of the water and electricity rates, a changeover to gas and for the resulting decreases in costs to kick-start the economy.

Let us analyse this, starting from the last statement: it is true that the local economy has rather stagnated over the past months (though maybe this was more due to the political uncertainty and the approaching election). But in a small and open economy such as ours, to try and kick-start the economy will lead, as happened in the past, to a consumer bonanza that will increase consumer imports as a result of which very little will remain here in Malta.

Secondly, to offer to reduce water and electricity charges instead of providing incentives for people to economise on their energy usage and to find alternative ways to use energy is very short-sighted.

As to the plans to change over to gas, while this is in the main highly attractive, in the long run, this will be costly and the funds for it need to be found. This paper is not at all attracted by the PPP solution being proposed by the Opposition unless it comes with all safeguards in place.

So, to recapitulate: were the election to be fought on purely economic grounds, there is no question that the proposal by the outgoing administration is far better than that proposed by the Opposition.

But elections are not fought on purely economic matters. This election sees a party that has been so long in power it has grown old and tired in office, and some of its key persons have become synonymous with arrogance and high-handedness.

Each election brings with it a spate of allegations of sleaze and corruption but the amount of cases now in public knowledge surpasses any past records.

The outgoing administration has become a victim of its own economic successes.