Every election is an opportunity for the citizens who have a right to vote: an opportunity to show that they couldn't be bothered; an opportunity to vent their anger and frustration; or an opportunity to send a message by declaring what they stand for.
The first two possibilities are the result of temporary emotional reactions. The third option stems from one's moral conviction.
I am one of the PN candidates for the European Parliament election on June 12, and this is therefore the right moment for us to declare what we stand for.
We stand for a Europe of the citizens not a Europe that imposes from above. We believe that Malta must take advantage of most of the opportunities of EU membership and that it is the political decisions that will make the difference. EU membership gives us the best tools available for us to attain social and economic progress but we have to be astute enough to use them in the most effective manner.
We have always believed that the dignity of man should be the focus of all political activity, at any level. Society is for the individual and not the other way around: human beings should not be slaves to some grand scheme imposed from above for the sake of social integration.
Safeguarding the environment is in the interest of the individual and not the other way about: the environment should not be elevated to the altar of a political ideology for its own sake. For those who agree with this, refraining from voting as if they couldn't care less or else voting as if they believe otherwise is a contradiction.
Applying principles to practice, we are committed to:
¤ Give the highest priority to the most precious resource that our small country has, its human resources. Education is the cornerstone on which the knowledge society of the future is to be built. After opening up the doors of our University to all and giving anyone capable the opportunity to follow a technical education - opportunities restricted to the chosen few in Malta's socialist past, we have opened the doors of all European University and technical colleges to our youth. For this is what the EU educational, training and youth programmes are all about.
Our future is what we make of it, or rather what we make of those born today and tomorrow, of those who are schoolchildren today, of those who are following tertiary education - a level of study in which, percentage-wise, Malta is still lagging behind all its European partners, thanks to the Socialist mismanagement of the past.
In the educational field, we must push, push and keep pushing. It is never enough.
¤ Insist that all our development efforts should be aimed at creating high-quality employment so that all citizens of working age could enjoy job satisfaction. Malta needs both local and foreign investment if it is to move forward and to this end we must ensure a competitive and dynamic free market in which SMEs are particularly encouraged.
The free market is one of the pillars of the European Union and Malta's EU membership has opened up vast, previously undreamt-of, opportunities to both Malta's workers and Malta's entrepreneurs. Yet again, the free market should be a means to an end and we therefore must at the same time not only make every effort to ensure full employment but also to guarantee that it will be possible for everybody to enjoy the highest standard of living and the best quality of life possible.
¤ Safeguard the environment through sustainable development by ensuring that all development does not damage the environment irreparably to protect public health and assure our children's right to enjoy the environment in the future. Raising the level of the quality of life for the citizens of today and of tomorrow must necessarily imply a commitment to safeguard the environment.
¤ Practise solidarity at all levels - at a local human level and at a European level. At a local level we should aim at having a sustainable system of social services and do our utmost to eliminate all forms of social exclusion. At a European level, the less developed countries and regions of Europe must be helped to reach the level of the more developed countries of Europe in the shortest time possible.
¤ Strive to ensure peace and solidarity in the Mediterranean and in Europe. The European Union has been built on the assumption that its member states were ready to forget that Europe was the theatre of so many wars and that they are now ready to share their future in peace. Concern regarding our own Mediterranean region: our security and the fight against such abuses as drug trafficking and trafficking of illegal immigrants must remain paramount.
A vote for the PN candidates on June 12 is a loud and clear message from Malta to the rest of the world declaring our beliefs as outlined above. Refraining from voting means losing an opportunity to join thousands of other citizens to send this message while a vote for other candidates can only mean opting for something else and is therefore a refusal to endorse this message.
Let all Maltese citizens decide.