Our leader page is today dedicated to the two choices that the electorate have before them for polling day come 9 March.

As a news medium, we will be bound not to mention politics in the last few hours before the election in what is known as the period of reflection – but that is another article for another day. So today we take the opportunity to look at the choice that people have to make in whether it will be a PN government or a Labour government which will lead us through the next five years. This leader will focus on the PN while the one published directly below will focus on Labour. We aim to go with the positives that both parties have put forward.

The Nationalist Party has based its campaign on being a good safe bet for continuity. Who can argue with that? Europe has been beset by financial and economic woes since late 2008. But bar a couple of glitches where Malta slid into technical recessions, we have weathered the storm and more.

Under the guidance of the PN, Malta’s economy has done well. The Task Force which was set up to prevent a hemorrhage of industry and investment in the islands at the height of the crisis did its job. It prevented companies from leaving, which would in turn have resulted in a spike in unemployment. The government effectively saved jobs in its handling of the storm.

But it did more than that. Over the past five years, the government continued to attract investors to Malta in various sectors – aircraft maintenance, the film industry, financial services, value added manufacturing and more. It has created jobs. One of the most laudable things that the PN government did, and pledges to continue to do is to put that money back into education to provide the skilled people that are needed to fill the jobs that are created.

The PN has been attacked by the general public on a number of issues – the honoraria paid to MPs, the Arriva fiasco, the divorce referendum and utility bills. But perhaps, the public’s biggest gripe is that the government did not listen to the people enough and, at times, ran roughshod over society. This is true. But the public should also not forget that this PN government has kept our finances in order and kept our head above water, not only staying afloat but swimming quite strongly and pulling away from the pack. Also, the general public should acknowledge the massive feat that the government, and in particular the Prime Minister, achieved in securing €1.1bn in funding from the European Union in the upcoming budget allocation.

The PN government has also worked hard to reduce the deficit and has committed to registering a balanced budget in the next legislature if returned to office. This would allow Malta to eventually register a surplus (provided our economy continues to grow) with the final goal of reducing our sovereign debt, which is still on the high side.

What is clear is that the incumbent PN government is a technically gifted one. It has retained economic growth so much so that we are expected to have the second highest rate within the EU by the end of the year. It has proved time and time again that it does have what it takes to administer the country and keep us out of the trouble that has afflicted many of our neighbours and fellow European Union members.

The Nationalist Party has also promised that it will listen to people more if it gets another term in office and to be more socially just. The choice now is up to the electorate. But we have to be clear – the PN government might have caused some individual hardships throughout this legislature, but on the whole, the country has continued to move forwards and progress as a fully fledged EU member state.