MPS should lead by example

At the annual Nationalist Party general council meeting Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi appealed for all to make sacrifices which he described as "inevitable". All right-thinking citizens are prepared to agree. But can we expect the same from all those who represent us in Parliament.

Just a few days before the general council a news headline read "Former Gozo MPs ask PM for more free ferry tickets". They wanted their 10 free tickets increased to 24. I was shocked that this was coming from former MPs and I asked myself just why should they get any free tickets at all. The reason was "that former MPs had certain contacts in Malta which they wanted to keep". So what? How many of us want a few free benefits to make life easier when we retire? Many would like a couple of free tickets to go to Gozo to meet our former Gozitan friends who worked with us.

The report also said that former MPs have a Lm300 subsidy on their telephone bills and also get two free Air Malta tickets a year. No wonder pre-election time would-be MPs all line up outside our homes in an effort to get our votes and we never see them again until the next elections. Of course they also get an uncapped pension on retirement from Parliament and many get a salaried job as well.

Please Mr Prime Minister it would encourage all of us to make sacrifices if we saw MPS, past and present, setting us all an example by giving up some of their benefits - not like Oliver asking for more.