The crucial and existential dilemma facing the Maltese voting population is how to plan and execute a dramatic reduction of population and visitors whilst still growing the economy.

Coupled with the steady decline in the birth rate of the long term ‘Maltese’ population there is a very serious problem facing us all.

This question was asked five years ago but it has taken some time for the reality of the gravity of the situation to hit a wider section of the voting public. Nowadays, everybody, except for the few rogue businessmen and unpatriotic politicians who set up the cheap labour economic policies, are anxious about what the future will bring.

Letting the status quo continue is not the way forward. Something has to be done or else the Maltese, will, sooner or later, become a minority in our own country.

There is still time to solve the problem and to map out a way forward that will save our culture, language, quality of life and encourage a growing economy.

Tweaking at the edges will not help. The infrastructure is breaking apart. The patient is sick and getting worse by the hour.

Yet, we also note that both parties are beginning to react.

The opposition, with less to lose, has begun to define serious long-term plans to try to solve the issue and is discussing these with the social partners, with NGOs, sympathisers and potential voters.

The party in government sees there is a problem but is so tied financially and ideologically to the system that they are only trying to tweak it and buy votes. This method will not work this time. The polls confirm this.

The PL and the establishment are afraid. Mobilisation of the lobby in favour of the present economic and fiscal model shows this. Articles appear indicating that Malta would not survive without foreign workers. Malta would not survive without continuing to increase tourist arrivals from three to four million a year.

Even Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary has joined the fray.

Articles by so-called Malta lovers, foreigners who live in Malta or Gozo to avoid paying tax in their country of origin, have begun to appear, explaining that we should be grateful to them for coming here.

All residents in Malta, whether Maltese domiciled here or residents under one of the many tax schemes that apply, should be treated equally.

Companies owned by foreigners bring their business here, or, at least, the cash movements of their business and insurance funds, but only pay a pittance of tax on the profits when they repatriate their profits.

The tax refund should be eliminated when corporate tax is reduced from 35% to 20% for all.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs has highlighted this unfair competition that is burdening their members, who pay 35% corporate tax, trying to compete with foreign owned firms that pay 5% net corporate tax.

The Nationalist Party’s proposal to reduce taxation for all and to reduce corporate tax on Maltese companies and Maltese taxpayers, is most welcome. But it would be fairer if all tax benefits for foreign companies or foreigners resident or working in Malta are eliminated.

All persons and corporations here should pay the same low tax on all their global income.

Tourist arrivals should be reduced to between one million and 1.5 million per annum over a period of 10 years.

Raise the costs of flying with a surtax on low-cost airlines and reduce slots to favour KM Malta Airlines.

Charge cruise liner tourists a daily landing fee of €100. Eliminate any Airbnb where neighbours vote against them, and raise tax on licensed ones to bring them to the cost level of 4-star hotels.

These surtaxes would reduce the cheapest form of tourist and can be used to compensate hotels and airbnbs that would have to close.

All jobs in the hospitality industry should be remunerated at statutory minimum hourly rates according to qualifications set by the government and all those employed in the sector should be proficient in Maltese.

The civil service should shed back into the labour market the thousands of persons added for political reasons into the service under Labour.

Maltese youngsters who left Malta should be offered a tax holiday if they return to the jobs now available to them.

Top foreign executives and high net worth expats would pay full Maltese tax at the new rates without any ceiling on their income and perks, just as Maltese executives and high net worth Maltese do.

This servility to foreign birth must be eliminated once and for all.

To save our country, we should wake up, bring fiscal and social justice back to the labour market and work towards reducing foreign labour over time, thus having fewer people here and ensuring nobody enjoys any special tax arrangements.

It can be done. The lobby for a better quality of life will win this battle since we do not want to be governed by cowboy businesses or foreign tax avoidance experts.

John Vassallo is a former ambassador to the EU.