Speculation about the election date has been rife for the past few months, but it did peak significantly in the past days. The signs are in plain sight for all to see, and it is evident that the wheels of the powers that be are in motion at full speed in preparation.

All I can say is bring it on. We are ready.

We are ready to give this country the much-needed hope it has lost over the past decade or so, that tomorrow will be a better day. Too many people feel that their best days lay behind them, and this is the most unacceptable, saddest reality that is being faced by our people today.

Our best days are yet to come. We can achieve a better future for us, for our children, for our elderly and for anyone who decides to call this small yet great country home.

Too many people feel that their quality of life has suffered greatly in the past years. They feel displaced by forces much greater than them, powerless to do anything about it. What's worse is that they feel that the Government and the authorities that are supposed to defend them are actively looking the other way instead of taking their side. This is reprehensible.

We live more hectic lives. While we spend more, our spending power has decreased. We work multiple jobs to make it to the end of the week, spending less time with our loved ones, spending less time doing what we love, spending less quality time learning, growing or developing ourselves.

Our commutes have doubled, sometimes tripled in time and Government is absolutely and utterly frozen in the headlights about it. It hasn't got the faintest most insignificant clue of how it intends to solve the problem which is now engulfing each moment of our lives.

It has literally flushed hundreds of millions upon millions upon millions down the drain in expensive infrastructural projects which have solved absolutely nothing. The gridlock is now so dire that people have forgotten what it means to get from point A to point B in a decently acceptable amount of time.

The government has lost the plot when it comes to overpopulation too. For too long has it abdicated its duty to lead, in this matter, and now, its half-baked proposals intended to attempt at reigning in the horse after it bolted are far too little and far too late.  

This government hasn't been leading at all. It has been reacting to one crisis after the other, with no plan whatsoever. It has been the same story for 13 years now, two Prime Ministers and endless cabinet members. Absolutely no clue in sight, just throwing enormous volumes of hard-earned tax euros at problems.

It is time to turn a new leaf. It is time to breathe a new breath of fresh air.

Our country deserves to hope for a better future. Our Parliamentary Group, our volunteers, the Nationalist Party led by our leader Alex Borg, are ready to take on this honour of a lifetime. We are ready to give this country an alternative Government that would truly represent all Maltese and Gozitans.

Join us, make your voice heard. We need everyone's help, no matter how great or small. We want to listen to your ideas and take them on board. Together we want to build a great future.

It is time. We are ready. Let's do this together. 

Darren Carabott is Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Security and Reforms, and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee