Three months have passed since Labour’s second consecutive electoral victory. The first 100 days of a Government normally set the path for the entire term. Joseph Muscat signaled his intention to move with unprecedented speed to implement pledges made during the election campaign. Undoubtedly, actions in this relatively short period of time have already left an indelible mark on the story of our country.

While the Opposition has been busy figuring out the mess it got itself into, the Government has been forging ahead, implementing its electoral programme while building on previous successes. By taking a quick look at the major achievements and plans initiated in the past few months, one will understand that Labour is even more ambitious for this legislature than the last.  

One of the first bills implemented, a mere 4 weeks after Parliament convened, was for same-sex marriage. 12th July represented a historic moment for our country since the marriage equality bill was a landmark piece of legislation that not only modernised the institution of marriage but showed the level of maturity that our society had reached.

The huge economic progress Labour has achieved for the country has also brought a number of challenges. One of these is a more pronounced social housing issue. The European Development Bank approved a Government application for a €29 million low-interest loan for social housing projects. Work on affordable housing began in Siggiewi this August. This project includes 84 flats, a childcare centre, sheltered housing for the elderly and 105 parking spaces. Another social housing project, in Bormla, will see the construction of 65 residential units and 115 parking spaces, with an investment of €6 million. Another initiative, is the ‘House Rent Scheme’, whereby the Government aims to rent some 200 properties from private owners, at current market prices, to offer as social accommodation.

Another side effect of our booming economy, and inadequate infrastructure, is traffic congestion. During the summer months Transport Malta embarked on a wide-scale initiative to alleviate some major traffic bottlenecks. Among the 25 nation-wide projects initiated are the partial opening of the new Kappara junction, work on the notorious bottleneck between Mosta and the Lija roundabout, opening up the airport roundabout, and the widening of the road leading up to the roundabout by the PAVI supermarket in Qormi.

Four new drugs used to treat prostate cancer, breast cancer, leukemia and bladder cancer have become available free at Mater Dei. Moreover, the Ministry for Health has set an ambitious and costly target that all cancer medication shall be free by 2020.

After years of abuse, the Malta Tourism Authority, together with the Lands Authority, came down heavily on beach concession operators this summer, removing hundreds of illegally placed sun-beds and umbrellas. Last Sunday during a political event marking the first 100 days of this legislature, the Prime Minister warned restaurant and bar owners that strict enforcement would follow on tables and chairs illegally encroaching pavements. At the same event, the Prime Minister pledged that soon a date will be set by when all new cars sold in Malta will have to be electric. He also announced new plans to tackle our endemic waste and littering problem.

In August alone more than a quarter of a million tourists visited Malta – that is, 8,500 more than in August last year. In the first eight months of this year, we had more than 1.3 million tourists. Work on an improved plan for Air Malta has begun, aiming to make the airline more financially viable by increasing revenues via increased routes and destinations. The airline will be targeting further growth in tourist arrivals in the shoulder months. Only this week it was announced that Air Malta and Ryanair had struck a deal that will see the airlines collaborating, with Ryanair bringing passengers to Malta from elsewhere in Europe, who would then use Air Malta for onward travel to African destinations.

Gentlemen clubs have long been operating because of a legal loophole. The Ministry for Tourism has unveiled plans to regulate these establishments while protecting those who work in this sector.

Public consultations have begun on the Sports Corruption Bill, aimed at imposing harsher penalties on sport officials involved in match-fixing, and also on the right of 16 year olds to vote in general elections and European Parliament elections.

Even though the opposition had branded the BARTS medical school and the American University of Malta as white elephants that would never take off, both institutions have had their first intake of students. This is hard evidence of how wrong the opposition was, and demonstrates the quality of foreign direct investment this government is attracting.

30 June marked the end of the Maltese Presidency of the EU Council. During our six month tenure we closed important dossiers. These included the end of mobile phone roaming charges, the introduction of cross-border portability of online content, moving ahead on the Wifi4EU initiative, implementing the Anti-Tax Avoidance bill, the Double Taxation Dispute Resolution Mechanism, and better protection for workers exposed to cancer-causing substances.

Last week special ‘62+ Government Savings Bonds’ were issued with a maturity date of five years and three per cent annual interest, paid every six months. The bonds, which have a much better interest rate than others on the market, will enhance pensioners’ income. The €70 million that were issued for take-up in three days ended up yielding applications for €100 million in seven hours.

All this was happening while the Labour Party had been quietly renewing itself. In less than 100 days a fair and transparent internal election was held for Deputy Leader, a new FZL executive committee was elected (with a woman as president for the first time), a new CEO and Head of Communications were appointed, and the LEAD campaign was launched, yielding a remarkable 85 female participants for the initiative.

While the Government has been busy changing our country for the better, Fitch has upgraded Malta's sovereign credit rating from A to A+ with a stable outlook. The upgrade reflects the progress made by this administration on various priority sectors, and particularly in consolidating public finances. The first weeks of this mandate have been characterised with hard work and serenity. Our country is moving forward on the path it embarked on four years ago. If the first 100 days are anything to go by, the country can look forward to some sunny days ahead.