Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1439469
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 DECEMBER 2020 NEWS Christmas specials Opera onal Programme I – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Fostering a compe ve and sustainable economy to meet our challenges" Project part-financed by the Cohesion Fund Co-financing rate: 85% European Union Funds; 15% Na onal Funds Visit www.water.org.mt to find more tips. FESTIVE SEASON SOME WATER SAVING TIPS FOR THE YOU WILL BE DOING MORE CLEANING, DISHWASHING AND LAUNDRY THIS FESTIVE SEASON. HERE ARE SOME TIPS: • ALWAYS USE YOUR DISHWASHER. IF YOU CAN'T... • FILL THE SINK WITH ENOUGH OF SOAPY WATER, AND USE THAT. • WHENEVER POSSIBLE, SAVE YOUR BUCKET WATER USED FOR CLEANING, TO FLUSH THE LOO. • THAW FOOD IN THE FRIDGE OR MICROWAVE. NOT UNDER RUNNING WATER. • ONLY DO YOUR LAUNDRY WHEN YOUR MACHINE IS FULL. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! However, as the last decade has shown, Labour's success in "managing" expectations, managing the purse-strings, and managing the democratic apparatus, has allowed it a ra- re, sustained supremacy in the polls. The Opposition Nationalist Party finds Labour's lead in- surmountable, even with the gloss of the Muscat years thor- oughly worn off, and a social consensus slowly fraying over Labour's problematic relation- ship with corruption, good governance, the environment, and the after-effects of the Daphne murder. And yet. Labour yet still thrives, by delivering a frame- work of social security, jobs and economic security. So is Malta's new normal also a reality in which pow- er has been totally divorced from politics, separate from the art of deci- sion-making and of winning consensus by the power of ideas and pro- posals? Only a system of checks and balances can keep this gap from widening ever further. That is why so many crucial reforms of the past year and a half have been aimed squarely at cur- tailing the excesses of power: the excise of the Attorney Gener- al's prosecutori- al arm; the way Malta's judiciary is s e l e c t e d ; the rec- ommen- d a t i o n s of the D a p h n e public inquiry; the introduc- tion of a prisons ombudsman... all these checks and balances are crucial ingredients that un- derline the value of transparen- cy and equity in decision-mak- ing, and in keeping checks on those with power. Indeed, these are democrat- ic values that go hand in hand with the existential require- ments of jobs, social security and an efficient national health system. In this new normal of collec- tive action and cooperation, the need for social investment from governments remains paramount; the need to create quality jobs, to regulate the free market and provide qual- ity public health infrastructure are crucial. But if the prize of this State-funded social cohesion is unfettered power for the shot-callers, the risk will be a growing gap between power and politics, a situation where power grows irrespectively of the politics that underpins it. That is why Labour's suprem- acy at the polls always comes with a warning of the consti- tutional risks that a two-thirds majority in the House could mean for Malta. In this state of 'normali- ty', the call for transparency, good governance and checks and balances that enhance our democratic life and our access to equal opportunities, has never been greater. The Opposition Nationalist Party finds Labour's lead insurmountable, even with the gloss of the Muscat years thoroughly worn off, and a social consensus slowly fraying over Labour's problematic relationship with corruption, good governance, the environment, and the after-effects of the Daphne murder