You have to give it to them. The band of crooks running this country, drowning in sleaze and unbridled waste of our money, have managed what I would have thought is impossible.

You see, lecturing in criminal law at the university and practising it in front of our courts for slightly more than the past two decades, I am perfectly aware of all sorts of robberies and thefts which were planned and executed by all and sundry.

But I never imagined that the future could be stolen. Literally.

Yesterday, I received a text message from an old mate of mine in which he poured his heart out.

The father of two very bright youths, whom I remember as toddlers, he confided in me that his son and daughter were seriously considering taking up permanent residence abroad and giving up on their Maltese citizenship due to the huge, daily embarrassment being caused to them whenever they mention their country of origin while working on the European continent – “ma jħossuhomx aktar komdi li jagħmlu parti minn dan il-pajjiż minħabba s-sitwazzjoni li ġejna, jew aħjar, ġabuna fiha u li ta’ kuljum joħroġ xi ħaġa”.

My friend’s confession and plight at first left me lost for words. I admit being struck with both sadness and rage for the first few minutes after reading those words. Yes, my blood did boil.

I then remembered reading the dreadful news last October that almost 60 per cent of young people in Malta would rather live in another European country, according to a survey carried out last year. More than 750 Generation-Z (aged 16 to 24) and millennials (25 to 39) in Malta took part in the survey between August and September. When asked which part of the world they would like to live and work in, 60 per cent of Gen-Z and 59 per cent of millennials stated another European country. There was a 12 per cent increase on the 2020 results in millennials who dream of moving abroad.

Sleaze will be the downfall of this administration- Jason Azzopardi

Reasons? Overdevelopment. The deteriorating environment. The international image of Malta. The economy. This trenchant assessment of life in Malta by our youths ties up perfectly with what I and other PN candidates are witnessing first-hand, weekly, personally meeting scores of families.

Countless parents sharing their children’s anguish, trying to achieve the impossible to have a home of their own. The purchase price of even a very small apartment has become beyond sky-high. These youths cannot even rent their independent residence as the cost of renting a home has shot up to accommodate those who can earn more than €17,000 every month from public coffers.

Young men and women telling me, some with a tear shed (yes, literally), as happened to a Gudja young lady still living with her mother and whom I visited some months ago, that, with their measly salary, they cannot cope with the cost of living, let alone plan to own their own home.

You see, we, the absolute majority of the people, do not earn thousands of euros in daily (yes, daily) consultancy payments from more than six different government departments and ministries. We do not own several seacraft, including a top-of-the-range yacht and a 22-foot catamaran. We never got paid €200,000 in (undeclared) cash for having helped someone get away scot free from paying more than €2 million in VAT arrears. We never got paid €150,000 for a mediation which was touted as having been given free of charge. We never did and we never will.

I can share with you what I told my friend who texted me the above, after having recollected my thoughts and emotions. Sleaze will be the downfall of this administration. Make no mistake.

I belong to a party which, without pretending to be perfect or omniscient, loves this country. Definitely more than those who are pillaging and plundering with glee. We are proud to be Maltese. We are not proud of this government.

We have a plethora of proposals, some already announced and the bulk to be announced when the electoral campaign is launched, which have one aim: to better the quality of life for us all.

To give back the pride and restore the dignity which we Maltese have always carried around. To immediately get Malta off the humiliating grey list, far away from Third World countries which are associated with the worst excesses of human rights violations and institutionalised corruption.

To make the society we live in a much fairer one. To have a new government which will immediately enact legislation to clip forever its own wings and those of future governments in order to empower the citizenry. To concretely increase the purchasing power of workers and pensioners. To cherish our environment. To stop development in ODZ areas.

To give back the future to our youths.