Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1511123
13 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 NOVEMBER 2023 BERNARD Grech tried his best on Monday to capture the general feeling of despondency in the country when delivering his budget reac- tion. He spoke of the immense difficulties inflation is causing to families and how it is eating in- to their standard of living. More importantly he contrasted this with the apparent attitude of nonchalance adopted by the government in face of several abuse scandals. Some government MPs smiled and others adopted a smirk on their face as Grech laid out the difficulties he has encountered in house visits. There is nothing funny about the diffi- culties families are facing, including middle in- come earners, as they struggle to maintain their lifestyles. Government may have used the budget to al- leviate the pressure on low income earners but remains oblivious to the problems the middle class is facing. The Opposition leader also put forward sev- eral proposals which he believes will ease the pressure of inflation, including adjusting tax brackets to ensure the COLA is not taxed, and a fund to help importers deal with the cost of logistics and transport. He also urged the gov- ernment to ensure the authorities tasked with protecting consumers and ensuring the market works well have the tools to do so. Grech was not bold enough to propose a tax cut that would favour the middle class but he did point out an anomaly in the tax bands with the dual 25% rate. He underscored the injustices caused by the social benefits and driving licence scandals, describing these as instances that have eroded society's moral fibre. These scandals have an- gered honest hard working people who expect their government to act with decency and fair- ness at all times. Grech was right to bring up these scandals within the context of a budget titled A Just Malta. There has been an evolution within the PN on how it deals with corruption, scandals and wrongdoing in government. It is a less hysteri- cal and more nuanced approach to the crusades of yesteryear that just created a negative feeling without offering hope. Grech also picked on the issue of overpopula- tion, which is a very tight rope to walk since it could easily verge onto the xenophobic or rac- ist. Undoubtedly, the sudden and exponential growth in foreign workers over the past decade caught Maltese society unprepared. Our infra- structure – from roads to sewage and electric- ity to hospitals and schools – did not evolve concurrently, creating problems of capacity and integration. Understanding the backlash and addressing it is important but in doing so, Grech must be very careful not to foment hate or promise to close the door shut to foreign la- bour when he well knows this is not an option. To be fair, Grech was careful in his speech but the PN must have a clear vision of what it wants and how it intends to control the phenomenon to avoid the xenophobic voices riding on its platform. And yet, the PN still has a long road to travel. Despite Grech's attempt to offer hope, peace of mind and dignity, the PN still has no coherent narrative of how it will govern. Grech's speech was like a jumbled jigsaw puzzle that contained some good pieces but with no overall picture to see. How will the country be different under a PN government? How will life change? Will peo- ple still be able to earn more and live in serene communities? How will justice be ensured? Will the cronyism tinted red of today be re- placed by cronyism tinted blue? These questions will have to be answered in a practical way for people to start considering the PN as a plausible alternative government. Unfortunately, the Opposition is also ham- pered by a lack of quality on its benches. There are only a handful of MPs who are of ministeri- al material. It may be that some require training and assistance from professionals to grasp cer- tain concepts, while others need to be given the space to be heard and seen more. Some others are a lost cause. And Grech, despite all his good intentions, re- mains unpopular. Only he holds the key to this issue. It is not an easy situation for the Opposition and the PN to be in. They are trying hard but surveys repeatedly show it is still not enough. The PN needs to find its raison d'etre; deal with its internal demons that prevent it from fully embracing civil liberties; rediscover its connection with the middle class and the spir- it of enterprise; draft a programme that instils hope and allows people to dream of a better fu- ture; and offer a decent and enthusiastic team that is ready to govern. It is a tall order indeed but one that cannot continue being put aside. PN needs a narrative of hope maltatoday MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: KURT SANSONE EDITOR: PAUL COCKS Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt the next seven years – still account for a scarcely be- lievable 93.9% (yes, you read right again: NINETY-THREE POINT THREE PERCENT!!) – of the total number of pas- senger cars imported to Malta this year. So once again, I ask: has the government performed yet another U-turn… this time, on the subject of 'banning the internal combustion en- gine by 2030'? Because it sure looks that way, to me. Meanwhile, all that remains to be calculated is the amount of ICE vehicles that will still be driving around on Malta's roads, by 2030: the year by which they are supposed to have been 'phased out' once and for all, remember? If Malta persists in import- ing anywhere up to '16,000 new cars a year' – and that's a conservative estimate, by the way: given that the figure has consistently INCREASED, year on year, for the past few decades – we will be looking at anywhere up to 112,000 new cars on the road, by the end of 2030: for a total of 548,000 ve- hicles (which, in a population of around 550,000, works out at almost exactly 'one car, per individual citizen'). And if over 90% of all those newly imported vehicles re- main – as the matter stands today – 'ICE vehicles', pow- ered by either petrol or die- sel... well, I'll leave you to work out, for yourselves, the precise date by which Mal- ta will eventually reach its 'ambitious' target, of 'carbon neutrality in the automotive sector'. I will, however, leave you with a small hint. It is cer- tainly NOT going to be 'by 2030'… or 'by 2050'… or in- deed, by any other time in the next three or four millennia, at the earliest. No, indeed. According to my own calculations, it's prob- ably going to be a lot closer to… erm… 'NEVER', quite frankly… According to the latest National Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for Malta 2013, road transport currently accounts for 16.9% of the total greenhouse gas emissions generated in Malta