During Times Talk, Godfrey Grima said he was very much impressed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s forte – a penchant for surprising the public.
It was hardly a pleasant surprise to hear Muscat’s reply, that the achievements of his administration so far, those he could mention, were cheaper electricity bills, the introduction of free childcare centres and refunds on VAT paid on vehicle registration tax between May, 2006 and December 31, 2008.
While the latter will be refunded over seven years, only a relatively small percentage of the population will be benefitting from these measures and this within a context of price increases in other sectors.
This reply explains why Muscat failed to come face to face with journalists in a press conference following the reshuffle. The reshuffle confirms that the famous pre-election roadmap was practically non-existent.
One hopes that this new direction of ‘trial and error’ will not adversely affect the people and perhaps the next ‘welcome surprise’ will be the shifting of the LNG tanker to a safer place.