Electoral quiz

"The Nationalists are an arrogant, corrupt lot well past their 'sell by' date. Since we're in the EU we can chuck them out of office, most of the important decisions are taken in Brussels, anyway." That's the message our opponents, be they MLP, AD, AN or Imperium Europa, have been trying to hammer into our collective psyche during this electoral campaign.

Do you enjoy quizzes? I love them. Ask the following questions to yourself before March 8. Your future may depend on you giving the correct answers.

Will getting rid of the Nationalists mean an end to an arrogant Administration?

If the Nationalists are elected, Lawrence Gonzi will be our Prime Minister for the next five years. If they aren't, Alfred Sant will re-assume the position he held for 22 months. Dr Gonzi has shown he is amenable to adapting his policies when circumstance or reason indicate he should do so. He has done so on more than one occasion. A Cabinet decision to site landfills next to our prehistoric heritage was reversed. Plans to have a golf course at Xagħra l-Ħamra were quashed.

Dr Sant's inflexibility resulted in Cabinet resignations and ultimately led to a short-lived government. It was obvious that his policies on taxation and the EU, for instance, were fatally flawed. He soldiered on, notwithstanding the fact that even valid and prominent members of his own party were vehemently opposed to them.

They were simply jettisoned. How many George Abelas and Lino Spiteris can a party afford to sacrifice on the altar of obstinacy?

Dr Sant was against the introduction of low-cost airlines and the euro. He wanted to depreciate the lira by 10 per cent. Nobody would have stopped him had he been our Prime Minister.

Will getting rid of the Nationalists mean an end to corruption?

No. There will be corruption for as long as humanity populates these islands of ours. Dr Gonzi has referred all cases of corruption to the Police Commissioner. Many allegations have turned out to be false. Dr Sant has paraded a Nationalist Party turncoat who turned against his party simply because his brother is being investigated in connection with allegations of corruption.

Will getting rid of the Nationalists really give us a rejuvenated Administration?

The electoral districts have been drawn up in such a way as to favour the MLP. The MLP will only remain in opposition if the Nationalists get the absolute majority of votes. The possibility of a coalition government is a fantasy.

If the MLP is elected to government, the Cabinet will mainly be made up of individuals who were either already part of Cabinets led by Dom Mintoff or Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici or were high-ranking officials of the MLP during the "glorious years of the 1970s and 1980s" (that's the way the Deputy Prime Minister in waiting refers to the most turbulent period in recent history). They just stood by, or worse, when corruption was institutionalised and political violence was rife. Hardly a recipe for a "new beginning"!

Dr Gonzi has pledged that his Cabinet will be made up of a new team.

The EU pulls the strings anyway, so what difference does it make who's in government?

The EU will not be there to save us from ourselves. If our Prime Minister attempts to re-negotiate our membership package, which was regarded as being preferential by other new members, he will make fools of us. If anyone out there believes that the EU is going to come charging in to save us from Labour's fiscal and educational "experiments", to mention but two, they're in for a very unpleasant surprise if Dr Sant and his Merry Men are elected.

Let's not gamble our future away.

Dr Pullicino Orlando will be contesting the March 8 general election on behalf of the PN.