We often find ourselves debating the problems or shortcomings we face as a country, but we rarely speak or discuss the main cause of most of these issues.

For 12 years, our country has had a government that evidently does not plan. And when it tries to do so, it doesn’t plan in a holistic manner. I will demonstrate this with multiple examples of where the Labour government’s lack of planning has been the primary cause of most of the issues that are irritating or affecting people.

Let’s start with the most obvious: the economic model and overpopulation. Clyde Caruana and Joseph Muscat evidently did not plan long-term when they based the economic model on the importation of third-country nationals from outside the EU. They did not plan for an eventual shift from that economic model to something more sustainable. We are paying the price for our government’s lack of planning. And this lack of planning has affected the most basic aspects of our lives.

We have, in recent summers, seen a surge in power outages when people need electricity the most, right in the middle of a heatwave. It is evident that the reason behind this is the government’s failure to invest in upgrading the electricity grid to support the increased population. Again, we are paying the price for the government’s lack of planning.

We are now seeing the same issue with sewage. Our beaches are plagued with sewage for most of the year, with Balluta being a prime example, closed for nearly the entire summer. This is happening because the government did not plan properly how to treat our sewage. Again, we are paying the price for the Labour government’s lack of planning.

We can take the same example of lack of planning and apply it to our health services. Even though Labour, in 2013, had promised to eradicate waiting lists once and for all, we now face even longer waiting times. Why? Because instead of planning how to improve our health system, this government decided to waste taxpayers’ money on the Vitals fraud. Again, we are paying the price for the government’s lack of planning (and fraud).

We will ensure our economy is no longer dependent on third-country nationals- Michael Piccinino

These are just a few examples of how the lack of holistic planning by this government is affecting our country, and we are left to live with it. Moving forward, the country desperately needs a government that plans, and the Nationalist Party aims to be just that, a government that plans for the long-term future of our country.

The PN has already explained that it will prioritise an economic transition to ensure our economy is no longer dependent on the importation of third-country nationals. Likewise, it has begun to unveil its plans to build a robust health system and to invest in an infrastructure update that will bring our utilities and sewage systems up to standard to meet both present and future needs.

Just as past successive Nationalist governments planned for the future when they secured Independence, liberalised our economy, and achieved EU membership, a new Nationalist government under the leadership of Bernard Grech will once again bring normality and stability to our country by, first and foremost, being a government that plans.

Michael Piccinino is PN general secretary.