Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544097
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 MARCH 2026 NEWS A week is a long time in politics. In Maltese politics, it could even span months. Nicole Meilak takes a look at all the various meanings of 'in the coming weeks' when uttered by a politician THERE are decades where noth- ing happens and weeks where decades happen. In Malta, there are also weeks that never quite arrive. Because in Maltese politics, there are few phrases more meaningless than the promise that something will happen "in the coming weeks". It suggests imminence without commit- ment, as if the matter is being handled and will be resolved im- minently. Politicians across the spectrum are guilty of this. Most recently it was Opposition Leader Alex Borg who said that the Nation- alist Party will reveal plans to invest in a new economic sector. The timeline? "In the coming weeks." Before this, it was Prime Minis- ter Robert Abela in January who said the government will publish tenders for an intermediate care facility at St Vincent de Paul Res- idence "in the coming weeks". March is now folding into April, and the only tenders bearing the residence's name concern floor detergents, stationery items and air-conditioning maintenance. The facility remains in the realm of "the coming weeks". It's as convenient for ministers as it is for party leaders. In October 2025, Education Minister Clifton Grima prom- ised that the animal hospital will reopen "in the coming weeks" as part of a new university-level course offering veterinary stud- ies. Months later, the hospital is still not open to the public, but in January Malta got its first vet emergency clinic. Transport Minister Chris Bonett has been particularly generous with the timeline. Last December, he said that plans for a mass transportation sys- tem would be announced "in the coming weeks". "We are very close," he said. Three months later, the plans remain just as close. The €25,000 cash-for-licence grant followed a similar trajec- tory. It was originally slated for June 2025, but that same month Bonett told a press conference that it would instead be rolled out "in the coming weeks". It eventually materialised in Jan- uary this year, suggesting that a "week" in Maltese political time can comfortably stretch across two seasons and a budget cycle. This elasticity is not confined to government. Back in June 2024, then PN secretary gen- eral Michael Piccinino said the party will submit its financial accounts "in the coming weeks and months". The accounts were eventually filed a year and a half later in December 2025, comfortably exceeding even the most generous interpretation of a "week". Even legislation obeys its own temporal logic. In November 2023, Home Affairs Minister By- ron Camilleri said the electronic tagging bill would be discussed in parliament "in the coming weeks". Parliament got around to discussing the bill in Decem- ber 2024, and the law was enact- ed in January 2025. Tourism policy followed a sim- ilarly scenic route. In December 2024, Abela promised a policy "in the coming weeks". By the time regulations were published in November 2025, they arrived without a formal public consul- tation. Then there are the ideas that never quite make the journey. In January 2025, Bonett said Transport Malta would pres- ent proposals for a road safety bureau "in the coming weeks". Malta still does not have such a bureau. For politicians, "the coming weeks" is not a real timeframe but a political instrument. It sig- nals that work is being done but it stops short of allowing for any future accountability in case the project isn't followed up on. It is a promise suspended in time. Political language is full of these meaningless words and phrases. Maltese news junkies would have already developed a working fluency in this lan- guage, but as we're heading into a general election, the uninitiat- ed might benefit from our short translation guide. The political elasticity of 'in the coming weeks' What they say; what they actually mean "In the coming weeks": "Any time between now and the next election" "Works are ongoing": "Nothing is visible yet but please assume progress." "We need holistic reform": "We are too scared to take decisive action." "An inherited problem": "We refuse to take the blame for this problem." "We are listening": "We refuse to take a position on this ourselves." "We are launching a White/Green Paper": "We need to be seen as if we're solving a problem without actually offering a solution." "We are launching a public consultation": "We don't want to talk about this issue ourselves for the next couple of months." "My door is open to everyone": "My door is open to even the shadiest of people so long as they can help me get elected." "It's not in the national interest": "It's not in my personal political interest."