Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544378
IT'S always the new billboards which are the first to give it away. No party in government will erect new billboards in promi- nent, strategic places all over the island unless it wants to push its message. After the budget, bill- boards are usually used as prop- aganda to promote all the new fiscal measures which are to be implemented, just in case the ad- verts interrupting your YouTube videos and nauseatingly inter- spersed during Mużika Mużika weren't enough. But now, in spring, along with a burst of colourful flowers, new billboards have also sprouted up with the message: Malta Aqwa (A Better Malta). The first time I saw this slogan my mind automati- cally made the association with Make American Great Again. In fact, it only needed an additional 'G' and an 'A' to make up the ac- ronym which has become synon- ymous with the shit show in the United States. In our case, however, the La- bour government cannot exact- ly urge us to make Malta great again because that would imply the previous administration was hopeless and that doesn't work when you yourself have been running the country for the last 13 years. The more I thought about it though, the more I realised that the slogan they decided on is still rather odd. Better than what? The current Malta? Because that seems to suggest they are ad- mitting that what we have at the moment needs a lot of improve- ment. We would all agree to that, of course, but to use it yourself as a political slogan for what is ob- viously your next election cam- paign, indicates that whoever came up with it (and approved it) did not really think it through. Let's just be grateful they did not hit upon Malta l-Aqwa (Mal- ta, the best) because that would really have been pushing it. There have been other signals in the cat-and-mouse-game of "will he, won't he announce", which is so characteristic of Mal- tese elections. Since we do not have a fixed election date every five years and an election can be called by the sitting prime min- ister whenever he feels the elec- toral temperature is just right, the guessing game becomes a favour- ite topic of daily conversation. "X'taħseb? Għal meta?" I've even heard it being used as banter be- tween morning radio show pre- senters, all of whom have tried to guess the date. Now, whether the speculation was deliberately started by the government itself to test the waters of how voters are feeling is anyone's guess. What you have to look out for is the flurry of major projects which are suddenly completed and in- augurated, or those which have been announced. Like the new football stadium earmarked for Marsa, for example, which will seat 5,000 and which can also be used for other sports. It will start being built in 2027—for which read, so vote for us to make sure it starts. Or the National Tennis Centre in Pembroke, which was supposed to have been complet- ed several years ago, but was of- ficially opened last week with the usual fanfare. Oh, and "work is also ongoing on the first phase of the Ħal Far race track, expected to be completed in the coming months." I predict the same will happen with the Buġibba Square project which has been dragging on for over a year now. The tell-tale signs are every- where, especially in areas which were previously neglected. Sliema, a long-forgotten town which has been clamouring for il- legal structures to be removed for years, suddenly woke up to po- lice sticking enforcement notices on illegal ticket booths along the promenade. Isn't that a good thing you might ask? Yes, of course it is, and long may this enforcement continue, but you really cannot blame the public for being cynical about the timing. Suffice to say that the legislation to remove these types of structures came into force last September. Why has it taken sev- en months for it to be enforced? The canvassing by political candidates is another sign that cannot be ignored as house vis- its commence and flyers stuff our post boxes only to be thrown away in the recycling bag. The swivel of attention on im- migrants is another very recog- nisable "election is coming" tactic and is always guaranteed to earn applause. Fully aware that a large chunk of the population is un- happy with an increasing foreign workforce, Identità dreamt up a test focusing on Maltese culture and the Maltese language, which will have to be taken in order for a work permit to be renewed. Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri had this to say: "For- eign nationals who come to work in our country have the obliga- tion to adapt to us, and not the other way around. That is why we launched this course, as promised in the Malta Labour Migration Policy; they must also sit for and pass an exam to be considered… for a two-year permit instead of a one-year permit. In this way, we will have workers who are bet- ter trained and more adapted to Maltese society. This is the way forward; this is the path we have designed, implemented, and are now reaping the benefits of." This was followed by the pre- dictable echoes of "Prosit Min- istru", even though many seem oblivious to the fact that it is this precise government which has made it possible for so many third country nationals to come and work here in the first place. The minister's statement is also baf- fling to me because everywhere I look, I see foreign nationals who are adapting and nowhere am I seeing anyone forcing the Mal- tese to adapt to them. But that kind of talk is enough to stir up very misplaced patriotic fervour. Like many things, it sounds good on paper but when I took the test myself, I was puzzled by the random choice of questions which I doubt many of us Mal- tese would know the answer to either. I doubt very much wheth- er knowing how much special family leave is allowed can make you integrate into Maltese soci- ety. The problem with this activity swirling around a possible elec- tion is that it is very much man- agement by crisis. What are peo- ple pissed off about? Quick, let's find a stop gap solution to show we are on it! But the proper long-term lead- ership of a country should not work that way. The Labour gov- ernment for too long now has been relying on gimmicks and flashy presentations and buz- zwords such as Malta Vision 2050. They sound fancy but are about as substantial as pink cot- ton candy. Meanwhile, the issues which have been there for several years and for which this administration is solely responsible, have been swept under the rug as they try to razzle dazzle us with slogans and inaugurations and million-dollar projects, which may or may not materialise in our lifetime. 3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 ARPIL 2026 OPINION Josanne Cassar She has worked in the field of communications and journalism for the last 30 years How we know an election is imminent: Let me count the ways The Labour government cannot exactly urge us to make Malta great again because that would imply the previous administration was hopeless and that doesn't work when you yourself have been running the country for the last 13 years A billboard advertising the Labour Party's Congress (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)