The Nationalist Party has published its electoral programme, with a view to address the matters that really matter to our families, and which are affecting their daily lives. Through more than a thousand proposals, across several sectors, we want to propose solutions to issues that Government ignored for the past years, rebuilding the foundations of trust between citizens and State.

A new Nationalist government pledges to invest handsomely in our country's disciplined corps. We want a country where our security is taken seriously and where our families can stay at home, walk in the street and go about their daily lives with their mind at rest that they are protected. We want to give our Police Force, our Armed Forces, Civil Protection and Guards and the Corradino Correctional Facilities the pride they have been deprived of, and the resources they have been stripped.

We want to do this though our proposed Paga-Pensjoni, whereby officers who have served the country for 25 years, will be encouraged to continue offering their service for a further 10, while receiving both their pay and pension together.

Furthermore, we are proposing that pensions for this sector will remain pegged with the current rank packages and will not freeze at retirement stage. That means that if an officer retires today, they will continue receiving an updated two-thirds pension according to the salary adjustment of the day, relative to the rank they retired in, in the future.

We need a bigger force to answer for the explosion in population numbers, driven to continue fighting crime and illegalities for the benefit of safer communities. At the same time, we want to tackle this phenomenon which successive Labour governments ignored.  

A Nationalist administration will establish an authority specifically responsible for population levels, labour market planning and national capacity introducing for the first time, a policy for population. A serious country plans ahead, studies its labour market, identifies where skills shortages exist and what infrastructure it can realistically sustain. That is why we want to build policies around the long-term wellbeing of the economy, but also the people living in it.

The idea of creating a Malta Population Levels Plan, complete with population forecasting and clearer frameworks for work and residency permits, aims to do exactly that. Likewise, a National Capacity Plan that examines the impact of population growth on infrastructure, housing, public services, the environment and quality of life reflects an applied picture to the policy.

Crucially, these proposals recognise that Malta must begin shifting away from an economic model built primarily on quantity, toward one built on quality. Labour administrations grew the economy the only way they knew how, by growing the population by 120,000 imported workers. We want to move away from this economic model, as we recognise that our country can be stronger with better opportunities, higher productivity, stronger skills, greater innovation and a better quality of life for everyone.

Our small island cannot sustain endless population expansion, as predicted by the Minister of Finance himself. It should be able to grow through investment in talent, technology, education and high-value industries.

Malta can do better than Labour's L-Aqwa Żmien. That was the best they could do, but now it's time to breathe afresh, to aspire for a Nifs Ġdid that only a Nationalist Administration under the leadership of Alex Borg can bring.

These are not impossible ambitions. They are standards that a serious country should aspire to. The challenge now is whether we are willing to make them a national priority once again.

This being my last article before election day, I wish to thank all my collaborators, those who welcomed me in their homes, my colleagues in the Nationalist Party and no less my wife, without whose support none of this could happen. I wish all candidates from all parties success, as after all, we're all in it to make Malta a bit better than we found it.Top of Form

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