Robert Abela has done a good job

The Nationalist Party today is prepared to do everything to gain power. It lies, denies and defies. 

It is a pity that a section of the media is helping these desperate people by attacking the Labour leader, Robert Abela, who has done wonders to govern Malta in these very difficult times. 

From the first day he took over as prime minister, he had to take thorough and painful decisions. His message was clear: don’t misuse or abuse your power or you have to resign.

He had to steer Malta out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some even warned that hotels and businesses would collapse and Malta would end up with 50,000 unemployed workers. Abela had to strengthen the revolutionary reforms introduced by his predecessor, Joseph Muscat. He continued to strengthen our institutions to convince Europe that Malta was not the Mafia state that the Nationalist MEPs depicted it to be.

Today, we have the lowest number of unemployed persons in history. Abela had to win the hearts of many businessmen and entrepreneurs by helping them when they were in difficulty during the pandemic. He had to keep the Labour government united while some of his opponents in the Nationalist Party were fighting each other.

Was the Labour government perfect? Of course not. Mistakes were made. Some abused of their positions and their heads rolled. The police force was left free to do its duty and those who abused have been arraigned.

RENO CALLEJA – Żurrieq

Expats and elections

Why not just give out €100 to everyone who shows up to vote? Photo: Shutterstock.com

I’m an expat, so I can’t vote in this election. Fair enough. It should be up to citizens to decide the make-up of the next government. But, as a long-time student of politics and participant in the political process, I do understand how things work. Just not here.

Three years living here and I still shake my head about how things work. Keeping the party faithful here faithful is as simple as putting them on the government payroll. Oh, and I need a scorecard to keep up with the number of ways the government can come up with rebates, grants, special deals, tax rebates, lower tax brackets for this group or that. On a daily basis, accelerating the closer the election gets.

Expats are excluded because we don’t vote. That’s ok because that is the rule. But, like many of us, we do pay taxes. Speaking of taxes, who is going to pay for all this largess?

Sooner or later, the piper must be paid. And, in that, we expats are equal with all the citizens. Not to mention the hike in gas taxes when the election is over.

Just a thought, although probably illegal, why not just give out €100 to everyone who shows up to vote? Surely it would simplify things.

Alan Zelt – Naxxar

Car hire racket

 Polenta Marco (February 19) suggested bringing in police from outside the island to carry out independent investigations. Great idea on the face of it but be careful what you wish for.

I would imagine the upside to that will be job creation in the building and security sectors, that is, to build new prisons and prison guards to cope with the massive influx of convictions.

The downside would be emergency elections to replace all MPs and their cronies, together with a massive police recruit drive as a starting point, in order to replace what appears to be corruption and indifference emanating from the very top.

I have to say police with speed guns and overzealous parking attendants are simply commonplace whichever country you’re in. I too had a ticket slapped on my car because I parked in front of my driveway to load a heavy bag. However, a polite letter to the local council works wonders, especially if local elections are due. Generally, though, they are quite reasonable and, if one is honest (sic), the offence has been committed; it’s just simply we hate parking attendants. In the UK, they are the most detested creatures, closely followed by IRS officers!

You see, if corruption flows from the top, then it encourages others further down the hierarchy to follow suit.

Corruption exists wherever you go. However, Malta, bearing in mind its size and how quickly news travels, corruption seems to be exceptionally rife and takes place fairly openly.

Good luck guys.

Paul Brincau – Uxbridge, UK