There is a strong Labour majority in Parliament.

And it used to be stronger.

It used to be stronger within Parliament, and much, much stronger  outside Parliament. 

That majority reflected an active and tangible expression of hope in the realisation of a number of promises and assumptions.

Yes, that majority was planted in Parliament to deliver on a set of well defined promises, to deliver on  the longstanding dream of a united, meritocratic, nation, built on sound democratic pillars.

That is why the Maltese and Gozitans  adamantly populated our highest institution with proponents of the Labour Movement ideals back in 2013. 

 They believed that they could make it happen if they gave enough strength and clout to those who were promising it could actually happen and were ready to offer their services to make it happen. 

But things turned out differently.

So differently , that today, three years into the legislature, the substantial majority  still manifest within Parliament does not  come anywhere  close to reflecting the mindset outside the precincts of the seat of our Legislative activity. 

In the winding alleys of our villages, our bars and piazzas the word is out and it’s not pleasant.

People  talk about how they voted for the Rule of Law and got mayhem.

People lament that they voted for justice and got a travesty of a judicial system with questionable appointments to the judiciary and a more prohibitive access to the justice system for the most vulnerable.

People  ask why they voted for restructuring of the country's fixed assets, and got a bogus auction of our national wealth instead.

People  cannot yet believe that after all the cancer factory fuss, they voted NO for HFO fumes and hazardous waste from our power stations and instead  of getting clean air , they lost a third of their National Energy Company, are still breathing HFO , and  are waiting with bated breath for the Herculean  LNG  depot in Marsaxlokk.

People know that they voted for a turnaround in government guaranteed debts and instead got more burden of government guaranteed debts , not for their national assets but for the private sector!!

People  are hurt because they voted for transparency  and got pitch darkness.

People  joke about how they voted for a phenomenal change in doing politics and they did because they got PANAMAGATE  with blessings!!

People  are very worried about voting for a proper purging of the Police and Armed Forces from political interference and corruption, and got plastiscene in the hands of the government.

People  express in utter in disbelief how they voted for a thorough clampdown on corruption , and instead got exponential expansion of the scourge , compounded by an unprecedented blot on the reputation of our beloved country.

People deplore the sad fact that they voted for proper and just distribution of wealth and instead got a huge  and unprecedented personal emoluments bill amassed by the inner circle , and more precarious work experiences and psychological abuse for the outer circle.

People know they voted for meritocracy and instead got a more severe version of mhux kemm taf izda lil min taf.

People recount how they voted for the most feminist government in history and got a 'nigi ghalik u nifqak ' polished version  of a late eighties travesty of a government with the civil rights minister and friends screeching ill-disguised approval.

And the list can go on.

Even the LGBT group whose human rights were finally transposed into effective law in this legislature, have realised that they were being used by what they thought was genuinely sensitive to their cause when the issue  of gay marriage was obviously thrown into the arena  simply to distract people's attention from the Panamagate debacle. 

The government and the parliamentary majority we elected no longer represents most of the electorate from which its power emanates.

It has betrayed the people on too many counts.

And it thinks it can justify the painful negatives with the bounty of positive  policies whose duty it was to deliver and it  actually delivered. 

That is the biggest mistake PL government is making. 

It thinks that it can neutralise its 'bad ' with its ' good' and worse than that it thinks it can justify its 'bad 'with 'bad,' committed by previous governments.

It also thinks that it can fool all of the people all of the time in spite of the polls which are giving it a clear message.

Tonight in Parliament, the government will win a confidence vote by utilising a parliamentary majority that no longer reflects its national trust rating.

It will tell the electorate that even if it has lost its trust, it doesn't care because it trusts and has confidence in itself!

We will hear many North Korea style expressions of adoration and adulations for the  great leader ship and its accomplishments, but we all know that when all is said and done , when the chamber  is emptied and the lights are out , the word on the streets remains that  the Labour Party we have struggled so hard to drag out of Opposition  has failed  and is failing the nation miserably, yet again.