Let the battle begin PN vs MLP

I was reading a very interesting article lately in the Times of Malta and I couldn’t help but thinking in what a shocking state the two main political parties are now that the pre election fever is starting to be felt and both parties try to outbid one another when it comes to making electoral promises, something which after all, all parties in all democratic countries do. Just like most of the other countries in Europe, in Malta the two main political parties tend to get themselves in a tangle over issues that at best leave most people smiling at the politicians tricks and, at worst, upset at the way they dare expect the electorate to believe everything they say.

When the Opposition Leader Dr.Alfred Sant recovers and re-enters the political fray by the end of this month, that will be the time when the political campaigning starts in full swing, Labour's election proposals to halve the surcharge on fuel and to exempt overtime earnings from income tax will surely top the political agenda again and if Labour are going to base the campaign on this two issues alone it looks like they will be keeping the tradition of coming up with the best electoral gimmicks of the lot.

Voters are well used to seeing political parties dish out political gimmicks at election time. The parties do this with a kind of fervency that often leaves many breathless or in awe, as many retailers felt in the 1996 general election campaign when they were given the impression that they would need no cash registers if Labour were to get elected and the same thing applied to the students who believe that there stipend will remain the way they were before. Many were taken in by this promise, only to find that Labour in power was no different to Labour in the opposition benches

Labour's proposals on the fuel surcharge and overtime deserves some close analysis. The Nationalists have not been strong enough in challenging Labour to say how a Labour Administration would be able to halve the fuel surcharge, and, on its part, Labour is not being clear on the how this proposal is going to work. Yes, it is easy to say that the money would come through greater operating efficiency at Enemalta but does the party really think the electorate is going to believe it can do this with the same deftness it plans to halve the surcharge?

The government is already forking out about Lm20 million (€46.5 million) to fund part of the surcharge. Halving the surcharge would mean having to fork out an additional Lm12.5 million (€29 million). How, exactly, is Labour going to tackle the problem, especially if the price of oil continues to soar? It exceeded $100 a barrel. Labour is far, very far from being convincing on this point, and it knows it. As it also knows that the public is confused over its other proposal to exempt overtime earnings from income tax. So many different figures are being mentioned about that, but few can now follow the arguments. It is, therefore, becoming increasingly difficult to assess the two parties' stands on the issue.

What’s next and who’s the party who will be most credible and realistic?