From my point of view, this is what the Labour Party has reduced us to.
Many of you have seen for yourselves the queues of people who are lined up every day behind the doors of Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, Government MPs and even PL candidates. How degrading, how low has this government made people stoop to actually make them beg for something that they most probably already have the right to have.
There is a method to all of this, it’s quite obvious, make something difficult to achieve (even if it should not be) and then the ability to attain it will seem like some sort of political favour, which many feel they are to remain obliged!
This is not the way politics should be done! I am not saying that politicians should not help people, that’s part of our job! To make sure that we create a better quality of life for people. Although not this way, I do not want people to feel that they need to beg for what is theirs or for a service they are paying for!
Politicians should work to put a stop to political patronage, we need to ensure that citizens’ rights are safeguarded. Who wants to see people begging the Government for what is already theirs? Who wants a Big Brother State dishing out indulgences in return for political loyalty? Instead, we should empower citizens to demand what is theirs without having to feel grateful to anyone. It is not easy, changing the Labour servitude mentality. It’s going to be difficult to make people realise that they deserve so much more, much better than what they are being dished out.
It should be the other way around; it should be the politicians who are visiting the people trying to understand how we can make their lives better. That is what we are here for; to serve, and not be served! I am proud to say that I am one of many who believe in this, the assurance that politicians need to be close to the people, listen to the people, not only when it is to our advantage or to see what we can gain from it, but to honestly and truly understand what people expect from us, and how they expect us, their representatives, to create added value in their lives.
I believe that injustices need to be corrected, and people should be given what they deserve. We need to continue to help those who need it the most and continue to ensure that all lives are improved. Every single Maltese citizen should not be afraid to demand what is rightfully theirs.
But this should not be done by making people completely dependent on politicians and no person should live in fear because they do. We need to ensure that we have the correct governance in place, that when a citizen has a right to be served in timely fashion, they are.
They should not be given the run around time and time again up to the point when they feel that they have no other alternative but to request political intervention.
We have now gotten to a point where people have altogether lost hope in doing things the way they were meant to be done and have now settled on begging to the Government for what they need. It saddens me to see my people reduced to this, we deserve much better.
Last week Dr Bernard Grech, leader of the opposition and Nationalist Party made it clear that it is unacceptable that people are left to wait and that our institutions are not functioning correctly. That the people deserve better and the Nationalist party in Government can and will provide them with that!
We are a proud people and we should be demanding that something is done, that we are given what we deserve, and we are able to do this without fear of political discrimination!
But there is hope. We do not need to continue to beg, we do not need to continue to be degraded and we can be given that which we deserve in a timely fashion, without feeling like we owe something to someone! Because we should not!
This is the added value that Dr Bernard Grech and the Nationalist Party is offering, better quality of life; where people are given the assistance they need without feeling obligated or that they owe something in return! Because you should not! Politicians are elected by the people to serve the people, and not be made into God’s.
They are elected to ensure these situations do not need to exist, and not create them. This is what the Labour Party has to offer, favours with conditions. When we should be creating rights, without conditions! We will give you more without the obligation, because we will make it your right.
Ivan Castillo is a PN candidate on the 12th district and President SHPN