Our best shot at change

These past few weeks, we have witnessed the Labour and Nationalist Parties spring into election mode, which has provided us with a lot of the usual dishonesty and spin against each other.

Timothy Alden is deputy leader of Partit Demokratiku and a candidate for Sliema local council. deputy-leader@pd.org.mt

Having a front row seat to this charade has left me particularly disgusted. The hallmark of honesty must be consistency. It reeks of dishonesty for the two other parties in Parliament to adjust their messages as if they were fine-tuning a radio, trying to catch the public mood on certain issues at the very last minute.

First of all, they are suddenly pretending to care about the environment, after having spent the past two years since the general election appearing to do everything they can to destroy it. The collusion against the environment between the Nationalist and Labour Parties for this term started in late 2017, when they agreed between them to extend the hunting hours at Majjistral Park. It was only Partit Demokratiku in Parliament that used procedures to try and block the ex

tension of those hours, as it would prevent schoolchildren from being able to visit the Park. Having agreed between them to appease the hunting lobby, the two other parties managed to force through the extension, and use their propaganda machines to make it look as if a compromise had been reached. The Nationalist and Labour Parties both went on to vote for fuel stations, for monster development projects such Mercury Tower and the Villa Rosa development in St George’s Bay, along with many others.

The Labour Party has also promised two new large open spaces. Since last summer, I have been talking about the need for new open spaces, but it is crucial that the government steps in to protect green enclaves in our towns and cities first. The latest threat to Villa Gollcher in Mosta should be a clear example. It is a massive historic green lung in Mosta that may be turned into a car park. Instead, it should be opened to the public, providing a massive garden for the residents to enjoy next to the Dome. The government should be entering into public-private partnerships for gardens such as this, including Villa Bonici in Sliema.

Even though it is not a European Parliament issue, the Nationalist Party has also raised the spectre of abortion, even though no candidate in Malta is promoting it and even though it can never be imposed from Brussels. Unfortunately, much of the European debate has centred around abortion, even though it is not one of the actual issues on the table. This ultimately backfired for many reasons. The President of Gift of Life, Paul Vincenti, accused Adrian Delia of being irresponsible when he called this election a referendum on abortion, adding that “The EU has no competence over our abortion laws and it’s unnecessary for him to create an issue out of this.”

When it comes to hypocrisy, we may also observe that, although Adrian Delia was mocking the Prime Minister for refusing to debate with him again, he himself has hidden away from a challenge to have a debate with Godfrey Farrugia in the same manner. It is my hope that the electorate will pay attention to the track record of the parties this election. Partit Demokratiku has never ceased to represent good governance, the environment and social justice. Beholden to no lobbies and no corporate money, we have been able to represent the people as the first third party in Parliament since Independence, standing up for what is right and what is fair.