Campaigning by the candidates who will be contesting the European Parliament elections on May 24 is in full swing. All my candidate colleagues within the Labour Party have launched officially their electoral campaigns and have announced publicly what they stand for should they be elected. They are conducting intensive publicity campaigns on the local print and broadcasting media and, even more so, on the social networks apart, of course, from going round to meet constituents in person. Not an easy task when you consider that all of Malta and Gozo is just one constituency contrary to the national elections which are fought on a district level.
Political parties are also in electoral mode with the party machines in full gear to drum up support for their candidates. All this reminds me of the general elections of March 2013 although this time round the campaign is less intense and no major issues are at stake. But it is an important contest nonetheless with the political parties having different goals.
The Labour Party’s main objective is to win the majority of votes, a feat which no party in government has ever managed to achieve. Although some people tend to differ, being the party in government, the Labour Party is the underdog in these elections. For one thing, some of our supporters are disgruntled and are making it known that they do not intend to vote because their grievances or injustices have not yet been addressed, forgetting that Rome was not built in a day and that whatever injustices they suffered under a Nationalist Government over twenty-five years cannot be rectified in only fourteen months.
While I do sympathize with these individuals, by not voting these persons will be helping indirectly the Nationalist Party which on the basis of its negative track record does not deserve their support. The Nationalist Party is heading into these elections with a heavy baggage not only as a result of 25 years of mismanagement of the economy and un-kept promises but also on the poor performance of its Leader Dr. Simon Busuttil who has alienated even many of his supporters with his negative attitude and infantile statements.
On the contrary the Labour Party will be facing the electorate with a positive track record and a string of achievements in fulfilment of its electoral promises. The results speak for themselves foremost among which is the reduction in water and electricity rates which will give a boost to the people’s disposable income, the opening of free childcare centres which will make it possible for women to look for employment, the creation of more than 6000 new jobs, the increase in students’ stipends and reduction in income tax.
On the legislative front, the Government has introduced important legislation including the Whistleblowers’ Act and the removal of prescription on acts of political corruption. It is also in the process of finalizing legislation to regulate party financing and which is expected to be enacted before the House of Representatives rises for the summer recess. These are three pieces of legislation which were promised for years by the previous administration but never delivered. More recently, we have introduced civil union legislation which recognizes same-sex unions and establishes civil unions with the same rights, responsibilities and obligations as marriage, including the right of joint adoption.
To top it all, at the time of writing, the latest European Commission spring forecast about Malta’s economic performance landed on my desk which speaks in glowing terms about the Island’s economy. The report forecasts robust growth over the next two years. It expresses confidence that public finances will improve, that the deficit will drop further to 2.5% of GPD and the Island’s debt level will decrease by 2% to 71% in 2015. This same report makes other positive comments about the performance of the economy which, in the words of the European Commission, “surprised positively in 2013”.
This is a far cry from the predictions by the harbingers of gloom and doom on the part of the Nationalist Party foremost among whom is the Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Simon Busuttil who, not so long ago, predicted that as a result of the bad handling of the economy by the Labour Government, Malta would soon turn to the European Union to ask for a bailout. An irresponsible and baseless prediction if ever there was one.
We are not there yet. By voting for the Labour Party candidates at the next European Parliament elections, the electorate will be sending a strong message that it has full confidence in the performance of the Government to continue to deliver on its electoral promises. In the words of Prime Minister Dr. Joseph Muscat, the best is yet to come. This is why, come May 24 we have a duty to cast our vote in support of all the Labour Party candidates.
Ian Borg is the parliamentary secretary for EU funds