We are now in the second half of the 2017 legislature with structures for the next election starting to build around us.  The people are facing Covid fatigue, the economy is bruised and battered and there is little inspiration to give us hope for a brighter future.  Much time has been squandered since the 2013 election for the Nationalist party.  It is still early days in their re-structuring of the party, with the new leader Bernard Grech at the helm but unless there is a greater focus going forward on understanding the voter profile, their desires and their problems, both parties are going to let the country down again.

The way the Labour Party had focused on each special interest group had worked very well to get them elected.  But it brought with it too many compromises, too many lies and little to change the fortunes of the country in a democratic and healthy way.

How have people changed since their claim for greater control on their destiny and a desire to have their life reflect their needs and intentions more closely?  What were those intentions?

In many cases the intentions are blatantly clear and completely supported.  The most immediate that come to mind are in the building and construction industry and in hunting.  Both of these business and social activities has benefited enormously under Labour.  Their every wish is their command and their status continues to grow more favourable to them whatever the wider sentiment of the population may be.

Those in the business sector will have mixed views on whether Labour has been good for them or not.  There is discrimination, favouritism, nepotism and an unfavourable international banking situation.  Then there is Brexit.

In tourism, the sector had been doing well but at the cost of degrading our environment.  A plan to regenerate a more sustainable tourism for Malta and Gozo should have been implemented before we lose all hope of attracting tourists back to our shores.  Rising rates for services were also beginning to price Malta out of the market.  As we had seen by the folly of the summer 2020 festival/party promotion of the destination, numbers do not always represent the best result.  In addition, Konrad Mizzi’s special consultancy, the way he handled Air Malta and Malta Air became a clear indication that threats did exist to the future of the tourism industry too.

In the field of education, youths probably took for granted that every opportunity would be theirs if they wanted it.  Can we say though, that the level of education has increased?  The Malta Book Fair has been refused use of the venue at MCC.  Such actions make us ask whether we are in the 70s and 80s or in a civilised, mature society.  Minister Ian Borg makes no distinction between a rowdy debate in a bar and an interview on television, using whatever language comes natural to him.  The level of discourse in the country cannot fall any lower as any voice that criticizes and speaks against oppression is quickly silenced with threats and insults.

The elderly are now the segment of the population facing most difficulty.  It is not just about pensions and housing but about the disregard of their suffering in the Covid19 pandemic and the disproportionate burden on them to stay safe.  The many deaths that are treated as an unavoidable effect of the virus says a lot about how we are failing to respect the elderly in our society. 

Women are being stripped of every dignity with populist laws that simply serve the male ego.  The law that will give women from the two main parties more votes to have a seat in Parliament is as out of place as a typewriter in today’s world.  Is it possible that we lack the knowledge of life around us so much?  Talk of abortion when it suits the government, gender bias that actually regresses the profile of the woman and under-representation of women in society and in administration is doing women a great dis-service.

We do not have a clear picture of how many new voters there may be as a result of the IIP scheme which sells citizenship and all the rights that brings with it.  We can assume though that many small investors who now rent out a property to foreigners who work here are closely linked to the continued flow of immigration to Malta from the EU and from outside the EU.

This increase in foreign nationals living and working in Malta has put a big burden onto our health infrastructure and cost.  The agreement with Vitals and then Steward has not proved beneficial and has angered many voters.

Corruption is the big unknown in Malta and Gozo.  Can there be people who are actually in favour of having a climate of corruption?  What proportion of the population endorses the culture?  How tired are people of hearing about corruption on a daily basis coming from some new revelation?  Do we have the stomach for any more or has it become as normal as the foul air we breathe?

Whatever profile the parties will come up with this time on where they should pitch their propaganda and what the policies should be, it is clear that there is a big proportion of the population that is ignored, taken for granted and silent. 

From all the lobby groups, special interest activists and populist supporters, the silent group has grown from being the floating voter to the non-voter.  As things stand now in the political sphere, there is no party who has gained the trust of the silent and managed to articulate and present a consistent and coherent platform that engages them. 

The silent are the angry.  They are the fed up.  They are the embattled environmental activists.  They are young and old, male and female.  They are those who expect justice and human rights to be a part of their social structure.  They are those who expect work to be rewarded with a decent living and to have access to a home of their own and not have to take their case to the ECHR to be compensated for their property rights that have been stripped from them.  They are those who shudder when they think of the late Miriam Pace and her family and of others whose walls fell around them but see the protection going to the culprits rather than the victims.

They are those who cannot bear any more to hear about agricultural fields being taken from farmers so that roads can be widened for cars.  They are the residents of Balluta who are seeing their local bay transformed into a commercial harbour to no ones’ benefit except for the stake holders.  They are those who live in dark flats and houses because their sunlight has been shut out by eight-storey blocks right on top of them.  They are those who live with the constant noise of hotel compressors right across their balcony.  They are the ones who mourn the loss of trees and open spaces in which to enjoy nature and the countryside. 

The many who find it hard to have access to a beach without having to lie on a rented sun-bed and waste time in traffic and finding a parking space.  Others who circle their residence blocks every evening looking for a parking space.  They are the viewers who have given up on fair broadcasting and are sick of the political media.  The parents who see their children find their future abroad instead of at home with their families in their home country.  The elderly who scrape by on a tight budget, afraid of unexpected expenses.  Men and women who have lost their job and income due to the pandemic and due to corruption.  The consumers who face high bills for their utilities, especially just because they are using their water and electricity in a holiday home which they were encouraged to buy to help the economy and the construction industry.

Most of all they are sick to the teeth of impunity and of crime being rewarded with protection.

I am sure that if a proper voter profile had to be conducted prior to writing a policy document, the vision would be very different to what we are always presented with.