Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1244022
13 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 MAY 2020 OPINION AS the government itches to reopen businesses to decrease the demand for assistance, shop owners know that it is not a matter of opening shop. Fear of contagion plagues our homes. As long as this terror reigns, how can we return to normality? A cure is all that can abate this fear and help us return to normality. Consequently, the government's reason for releasing social distancing measures will be a purely political and economic one rather than one based on medicine and the public good. Health profession- als shall again have to bow their heads to the will of the political master. It is Robert Abela's needs that shall determine our future. When our excel- lent economy, which year after year we have been told is sterling, unsurpassed in its might; which time and time again we have been told is worth the price our country and future generations are pay- ing dearly for; when this glorious econ- omy can no longer foot the health bill, then social distancing shall be brought to an end. Whether this implies a loss of lives, the isolation of the elderly and vulnerable and the endangering of our health care professionals is of secondary impor- tance. Other countries are loosening meas- ures imposed. This mounts pressure on the government to follow suit. Abela's priority is not, as he would have us believe, the good of the country. On the contrary, his personal victory and the nurturing of his vainglory, that is his priority. The price Maltese and Gozitan families will have to pay for this is irrel- evant. Can the hardships our community is facing be quantified? Glossing them over with contrived statistics and deviation tactics is not going to do the trick this time. Was it not politics that outvoted health in the not too distant past? Are we to expect a repeat performance? Which 'experts' will be whispering in Abela's ear? Those with the people's in- terest at heart? Doubtfully. Those who consider lotto booths a necessity? Ob- viously, gambling (or tax money coming from) is what the country needs. Days have rolled into weeks and those deemed ineligible for government help despair as their businesses grind to a vir- tual halt despite not having been made to close shop by the government. Having to eat through your hard- earned savings to issue salaries and pay bills is a nightmare no one deserves. Entire families have been left to fend for themselves despite having no income to buy even the most essential of goods. Overheads do not just go away, rent has to be paid irrespective of whether one is earning or not. What can one do with under €200 a month? How can the ill fend for them- selves? How can food be put on the table, rent paid, utilities covered? Those blessed by government aid are an absolute minority of those who have found themselves without earnings. Em- ployees and the self-employed alike, be they tradesmen, farmers, fishermen, professionals or service providers suffer in silence burdened by expenses, fear and uncertainty. Less than a third of those who should be helped are receiving any form of as- sistance, be they self-employed or em- ployees. Consequently, Malta and Gozo cannot remain closed, most especially as oth- er countries open shop. Yet, when and how to open is a delicate choice that requires decision-making which is not based on political interests that comes, as per Labour's modus operandi, with an execution that relies on the bullying of dissenters into silence, ridiculing those who dare object and silencing those who question. How many have been right and there- fore marginalised if not ostracised? Controlling the media has its benefits, the Labour Party sure knows how to cap- italize on this. Being able to lie through one's teeth publicly, with no fear of re- buke does have its perks. Distributing favours to the few to si- lence the many is a tactic we are now all too familiar with. How else to explain hunting and gambling being given the green light? When favours do not work, then what? Deviation of course. For is that not what the plight of immigrants has become? Is it not easier to blame the Nationalists for what is a total governmental failure? And if deviation does not work? Then we can resort to divide and conquer. Di- vide the people, even your own people. Create controversies that will deflect at- tention from your deficiencies and iniq- uities. For at the end of the day to Abela this is not about the health of the nation or universal human rights, this is a splendid electoral campaign wherein decisions will be made to ensure a win, no matter how many must, literally, die or at the very least struggle to survive, to pander to a labour party's unquenchable thirst for power. Edwin Vassallo Votes and money trump health as Abela casts our dice Edwin Vassallo is the PN opposition's spokesman for agriculture and small business Days have rolled into weeks and those deemed ineligible for government help despair as their businesses grind to a virtual halt despite not having been made to close shop by the government