Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544871
TWO weeks into this election campaign and I've already giv- en up trying to keep count of all the proposals promising cash, free this and free that, to practi- cally every sector. Meanwhile, the uproar over the candidature of Omar Raba- bah, which has created so much panic, has continued. There is a tinge of hypocrisy about the whole thing because while it's OK for Pete Buttigieg of Mal- tese descent to contest the US presidential elections, the fact that someone who is half Mal- tese, half Syrian dares to run for a parliamentary seat is, accord- ing to some, completely unac- ceptable. Those objecting say this is not about his nationality, but his religion. According to certain quarters this one man, apparently, will not only be elected on his first try because there are "between 10,000 and 15,000 Muslim voters" to quote one commen- tator, but he will have enough influence over his fellow MPs to change the Constitution and turn all of us into Muslims. I'm not sure where these sta- tistics came from, but to claim that thousands of Muslims have Maltese citizenship and hence voting rights is very far- fetched. It also presumes that all Muslims who can vote here are one homogenous group which shares the same political allegiance, the same nationality and that they all reside within the 6th and 7th electoral dis- tricts where Omar Rababah is contesting. The visceral reaction has ex- posed the level of abhorrence felt at grassroots level against the Islamic culture. I cannot help but draw parallels with the racism and anti-Muslim back- lash, which Zohran Mamdani received when he was elected the mayor of New York. When he was interviewed by Trevor Noah about the difficulties of being a socialist in the United States, where this label is still synonymous with communism, Mamdani quipped: "I'm a Mus- lim socialist, so I am used to the bad PR." From what I've read about his policies, Mamdani is truly a working class hero, advocating for affordable housing, univer- sal childcare and increasing the minimum wage. Surely, that should be more important than his religion. Likewise, I would think it is more important to know what Rababah actually stands for and judge him on that, rather than his family tree which the prime minister was at such great pains to spell out. Judging from the online reac- tion, there is a groundswell of public opinion, which is object- ing to him being on the Labour Party ticket. Whether actively promoting Omar Rababah as one of their candidates will hurt the party remains to be seen. Some have described it as a cal- culated risk to grab votes from that particular demographic, while others are vowing not to vote Labour as a protest against this decision. I don't claim to be psychic, but I am pretty sure that when it comes to voting day, those who are diehard La- bour will still vote Labour, no matter how many Omars are on the ballot. In any case, log- ic would dictate that those who are upset because they do not want him to represent them, should just skip his name and not vote for him. Of course, the immense coverage which Omar has been given precisely be- cause of this controversy might also work in his favour and he could win the sympathy vote. Tell me what you are going to do If we leave out all the prom- ises from this campaign which will cost money (i.e. practically everything), from what I have seen there is scant attention be- ing paid to tackle perhaps one of the country's gravest prob- lems. The wide-spread lack of enforcement and discipline everywhere you look. A classic example was handed to us this week in a tragic inci- dent where a delivery man had to have his leg amputated as a result of his injuries after a car slammed into him. The charges against the reckless driver who ploughed into him read like a harrowing list of just how many laws one person can break at the same time: He was drunk, driving a cab with no licence, no insurance, no permit for a Y plate and giving the police the wrong details. He is also unem- ployed with no fixed address and waiting for asylum status. It reflects a shocking cata- logue of shortcomings and a dereliction of duty by several departments and authorities— at least that's how it appears to the lay observer. I would like to see one political party taking the dangerous driv- ing we witness on a daily basis seriously enough to announce more concrete measures which will take these menaces to so- ciety off our roads immediate- ly. There have to be draconian measures, such as a longer driv- ing ban. In the UK, for example the ban is between one and two years, depending on the injuries and up to five years imprison- ment. If someone is killed due to dangerous driving, the driver can be disqualified from driving for five years and imprisonment can be as much as 14 years, or even life. The enforcement we so bad- ly need, but which everyone seems afraid to touch because it's easier to promise freebies, includes illegal development and tax evasion. Not only is it not being tackled but it is being retroactively sanctioned which sends the message: Why bother doing things by the book? On this island you can build 20 illegal padel courts on Ma- noel Island in full view of the authorities and then have them sanctioned by paying a measly €900 on the eve of the election. On this island you can reach a settlement with the tax author- ities due to legislative chang- es introduced last year even though you were charged with income tax and VAT evasion, false tax declarations, defraud- ing the Tax Commissioner and making fraudulent gains to the detriment of the government. The people benefitting from these settlements not only had their criminal charges dropped but can presumably keep on doing what they were doing before because… what is the deterrent? They have to pay a penalty apart from the money which is owed, but how do we know this will actually be col- lected? When questioned about this, the finance minister explained his reasons for agreeing with this new measure: "Is it a ques- tion of putting tax evaders in jail and being satisfied with that? Or is it one of collecting what is owed or almost double that? Personally, I'm collecting more taxes and that is a bigger deterrent," he said in an inter- view with MaltaToday. I sincerely hope he is on the right track and not just en- couraging others to follow suit; to convince us this was a wise move, he should inform the public when the taxes and fines have been paid. With both parties promising everything from super bonuses to more tax cuts to the remov- al of the inheritance tax, it is still a mystery how each par- ty is planning to finance their ambitious plans. The proposals are meant to leave more money in people's pockets which is a welcome initiative, but in order to increase stipends, build new hospitals, increase the chil- dren's allowance and pensions and a plethora of other meas- ures which are too numerous to count, the money has to come from somewhere. It would be nice if the next time we read about the next free thing, both leaders could actually explain how they are going to pay for all this. 3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 MAY 2026 OPINION Josanne Cassar She has worked in the field of communications and journalism for the last 30 years Tell me what you stand for