Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1269638
16.07.2020 5 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS CONTRIBUTING JOURNALIST: MASSIMO COSTA BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 A ir Malta is operating with only three planes, down from 10 planes, and is running at 63% capacity for the month of July. A far cry from the operation of 10 planes and 95% capacity in the year 2019. e national airline is also facing a 24-month recovery period to match 2019 numbers. e tragedy of the COVID pandemic has left airlines grounded, staff unem- ployed and a meltdown in many tourism sectors. And we are not alone in this. It is clear that a fear of a resurgent pan- demic is keeping many away and more significantly many people are hesitant to travel, aware of the high costs involved in a time of financial stress. Our dependence on tourism is high and reports and comparisons to other countries will not alleviate the crisis we are facing. Many hotels and other businesses are laying off people, and the long-term ramifications of these redundancies will be felt in October. At the same time, purchasing power is bound to drop. In light of this, the government needs to reduce – where possible – tax burden, including VAT. ere need to be more schemes to help ailing industries and businesses stay afloat and this can only be done by ex- tending the Malta Enterprise schemes. It is also high time to reassess those as- pects of the economy which are under the greatest stress and strain and to di- rect aid in their direction. Delia must go now e political crisis in the Nationalist Party has diminished the value of de- mocracy. ere can be no functioning of a democracy without a constructive opposition. One that is led by unity and purpose. at is not possible now with the im- possible leadership of Adrian Delia in the face of open rebellion from his par- liamentary group and now the party ex- ecutive. Delia is blind to the repercussions of his actions, and he is hanging on to his position knowing all too well that it is untenable and simply leading to the au- to-destruction of the PN. Delia's position has been fortified by the 'curious' decision by President George Vella, whose interpretation of the Con- stitution argued that Delia could retain his role as leader of opposition in spite of having lost his parliamentary support. Delia's self-centred approach to the problem has landed this country in a scenario that allows the government to take policy decisions without question. is country needs to calibrate its par- liamentary representation and bring some normality and seriousness back into the political discourse that deter- mines the direction we take and the pri- orities we face. is country needs normality not an orgy of self-centred politics dominated by political leaders who cannot place country before their singular and paro- chial interests. The challenges we face