Winners and losers

There was once a time when, on receiving a cry for help, former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami would genuinely leave no stone unturned to extend all the assistance possible.

A barely literate woman scribbled a note to him explaining that she is a handicapped person, totally dependent on her siblings for all her personal needs, with all the indignity that entails. He assigned her case to the Social Services Department with a brief to ensure that the person receives all she is entitled to. In the event, she was awarded a small allowance, which made a huge difference to this woman, and Dr Fenech Adami and his party gained a fervent life-long supporter.

A few years later and a new Prime Minister receives a cry for help from a widow with five children to look after. She explained that with her monthly pension of Lm180 she cannot make ends meet. She was facing a bleak Christmas without food for herself and her family while she was being harassed by the Water Services Corporation, which was threatening to suspend her electricity supply.

Her letter was answered by Dr Gonzi's private secretary, Remigio Bartolo, who simply acknowledged receipt. There was no further action in this case, nobody helped her, that is until the opposition highlighted her case in the MaltaStar. Then a flood of generosity from far and wide materialised in the nick of time to ensure that this family will have a decent Christmas as befits a Catholic country.

I believe that too many people will arrive to the conclusion that all the talk of a concerned, listening Prime Minister is just a callous sham. It is the opposition that can be relied upon to swing into action to provide succour to a person in need.

Of course, given the resultant publicity given to an uncaring PN government, and the heart-warming concern of the MLP, many are likely to decide how they would vote, on the basis of this sad story.

It will soon become apparent that Lm180 for 30 days for a family of six translates to just Lm1 a day for each person in the family. Out of this Lm1, they are supposed to feed themselves, buy clothes and pay their bills like the rest of us.

There is indeed something wrong with a government that fails to comprehend the impossibility of subsistence on such a paltry sum of money.

I believe that this apathetic insensitivity will have a bearing in deciding the winners and losers come the next election.