Editorial • 17 November 2002

ToonToday: Ice party

A meeting in an ice rink

A political meeting in an ice rink would be a giveaway to wannabe counter-spinners, a field day for the world of satire.

However, it appears that the Nationalist Party can get away with such silly choices.

If it were the Labour Party there would be all sorts of labelling such as the Wage Freeze party, the Frozen Application party and so on and so forth.

In this Kunsill Generali meeting at the Eden Century ice rink, the Nationalist Party will attempt to assure us that the last four years have been a wonderland of accomplishments and that the Labour Party is a lousy alternative.

This is the biology of adversaries in politics. Seeing the absolute badness in the good and the good in the absolutely bad.

The lifesaver for the Nationalist Party is Europe: without Europe many would have no hard feelings in turning their gaze to the Malta Labour Party.

It is very true that in the years after 1987, the Nationalist government literally saved this country from the inward looking economy and autarky imposed by the Mintoffian government and repeated by Dr Mifsud Bonnici's.

Its reign of power brought prosperity, a relaxed atmosphere, decentralised government, pluralism, a vision forward and an end to rampant violence.

Yet, throughout the years, perennial issues were discarded and we were left to ponder who would be taking the bulls by the horns.

What are they?

First and foremost, the welfare system that has grown far too big and too costly to run. Then there is the system of nepotism and the antiquated and unfair electoral process.

Another is the sloth-like government and ill-managed essential services; over-subsidised and sterilised by their leadership void and lack of direction.

Other topics that fail to leave a dent are issues pertaining to environmental and social issues such as hunting and divorce.

Two themes that sit permanently in the no go area for most vote-seeking politicians.

Nor should one forget the chaos in the multitude of appointed commissions and boards, not least the Broadcasting Authority a dinosaur that continues to elude extinction.

One can also not help mentioning the reforms that failed to shake State TV, the Department of Information, the courts, the dockyards and parastatal companies and many others.

Yet in the last decade the features that characterise sad and ugly Malta have been left unmoved. The civil service, the run down public transport and the neglected general environment. They all remain low on the hit list of things that have to be solved.

Some of the solutions to the problems will definitely be speeded up by European Union membership; the additional list by articulate visionaries with a knack to implement and satisfy deadlines.

This is the choice we have ahead of us and yet it remains unclear how the Nationalist Party will live up to many of its promises and more to the challenges that lie ahead of all of us.