Editorial • 02 March 2003

Taking the right decision on March 8

The value of public consultation should never be underestimated.

Next Saturday, the Maltese electorate is being asked to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to taking Malta into the union.

The ‘yes’ campaign stands diametrically opposed to those saying ‘no.’

Those with the ‘no’ message have contributed by sending out a confused message.

Vote no, annul your vote or stay at home.

The campaign has been intense but calm.

At the top of the charts for the most banal comments we meet Joe Brincat. He, who a few years back could find no kind words for Alfred Sant in his weekly columns in an English language newspaper. In some wasys his statements have even surpassed those of the likes of Dom Mintoff, who has reincarnated himself with the help of some old cronies and the ‘erudite’ Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.

At the top of the parade for unbelievably hollow options we find the leader of the MLP, Dr Alfred Sant. Offering a novelty he has termed ‘partnership,’ he insists Malta can broker a special relationship with the EU, even if he has spent more time calling the EU’s top brass all sorts of crude names.

The no lobby have been successful in one salient respect, apart from being divided and fragmented into small splinter ‘no’ groups: in sowing the seeds of fear and presenting the Maltese public with creative inventions.

This newspaper joins all those that have already called on all Maltese and Gozitans to vote ‘yes.’

The vote will not be for the Nationalist party or Alternattiva. However, we cannot see this Labour party in government, not with its current leadership and policies.

We say this not because the Nationalist party has a God given right to govern. Far from it, the PN’s administrative record has not been a shining example of success and efficiency.

The step we must take on March 8 is the most important step needed for this small nation to take a giant leap forward. It will transform us all, it will ‘right size’ – a word regularly used by Alfred Sant himself – our political parties and put them on the back burner.

The first accession years promise to be more than interesting.

But the upgrade Malta needs will not be achieved without some real input and effort on the part of our politicians and institutions.

On March 8, Malta will take a decision that will have a lasting effect on the way we are to develop in the economic, social, environmental and cultural spheres.

We have this once in a lifetime chance. We are obliged to take the right decision.