Preface to the 2023 Budget – Andrea Caruana

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope… And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities” – Dr Seuss.

We members of parliament renew our promise to be servants of the people. We made this promise by putting ourselves at the mercy of the people during the last election.

We swore to represent the people of the Maltese islands as accurately as our ability allowed. Their problems are our problems. Thus, we become their shield from the errors that will always test any government. For this, we will use our power, lent to us by the people, to solve their problems.

We specify: our responsibility is chiefly to the greater part of this country’s population for the sake of democracy and the greater good. However, we shall not forget the few who struggle to make their voices heard.

We shall ignore the few who wish to turn our power, the people’s gift, into a path to disproportionate wealth. No matter how they shall tempt us we will stand tall and deny them passage to greed and arrogance. This is because we represent the people of Malta who we believe to be good and just. The Maltese would not betray their beloved country for their own gain. So, neither shall we.

If we have strayed and listened to these strangers (because a Maltese man who betrays his fellow man for petty gain is no longer Maltese) we will repent by cutting ties, stopping the conspiracy and returning to our duty to the greater part of the people. The people’s power shall not be abused. Instead, we shall guard its purity.

When we come to use this power, in a very direct way, during the annual budget, we will prove that our service to the people is still strong. That we have not betrayed them and abused of their trust. We were a wise choice and for our hard work we deserve respect and praise. But no more.

In this year’s budget, we shall prove that we have heard the masses’ cries.

We shall ask forgiveness for our errors against the Maltese earth. We shall treat the cancer of concrete that devastates our little yet precious greenery. We shall return the environment to its owners and safekeepers: the Maltese people as a whole.

So, we too have the right to enjoy the peace of nature which we gave away. This self-harm shall continue no longer. To do this, we shall lobby to buy land back, deny our colleagues’ proposals for further harm and lobby for funds to care for the land. Proposals that thwart the above shall not pass.

We shall take care for an economy in danger. In the first place, we shall be as severe with ourselves as we order the people. For behind the façade of power brokers, we are, in truth, lower than the people as their servants. It shall be ensured that the economy shall not be privileged information to the few who understand the jargon. It shall be presented in a manner that even a child can understand it.

We shall not forget the few who struggle to make their voices heard- Andrea Caruana

Thus, the people shall not be lost in translation from the management of their own funds. We shall lobby for preparations for a sustainable economy that is not so heavily dependent on foreign investors.

This shall be done with head held high even if it means we must undo preparations for the previous, unsustainable economy. With bulldozers if needs be.

The small disgrace of admitting wrong and making amends is nothing near the humiliation of our constituents being unable to afford bread and milk. We know they will come to us in their panic. Their eyes will tell us that they know it is our fault. Proposals that thwart the greater good shall not pass.

We shall prove to the world that Malta is an active part of the global community. With Europe turning to the right, the anticipation of less international help with migration is foreseen. We shall lobby for more funds for the use of rescue and welcome of irregular migrants. We shall prove that Malta is no floating fortress but a time-honoured safe haven for all. Proposals that thwart the greater good shall not pass.

We shall maintain Malta’s social policy providing free healthcare and education to all. We shall lobby to return the funds mistakenly retracted from the University of Malta and, if feasible, top them up. Such that all minds will be sharpened for the benefit of the individual, the economy and, through research, the world. Proposals that thwart the greater good shall not pass.

We pledge all these urgent lobbies, and more, as the servants of the Maltese people and,  ultimately, express our devotion and love to our country. We will accept full responsibility should the Maltese people be disappointed and protest their grievances.

So, help us God…

Andrea Caruana is a nurse and medical student.