Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544871
I must admit that I am lost and cannot quite follow all the fis- cal promises that have been presented by the political par- ties this week. The PN took everyone by surprise with their blanket succession tax reform and the new tax bands. The PL was surely not expecting such a plethora of tax incentives, and neither was it expecting the PN to enter the battle with so much enthusiasm in the second week. But the Labour Party was al- so not slow in dishing out an equally impressive list of fiscal goodies, including a super bo- nus of €1,000. It has to be seen if these pro- posals are going to be taken seriously by the electorate. My feeling is that most people are not quite following but there will be those who will take note when it impacts them directly. It also has to be seen if the ac- cusation by the prime minister that an alleged contrabandist, masterminded Alex Borg's fuel hub idea at Hurd's bank, will dent Abela in any way. Borg has come out denying the claim. I am not quite too sure the allegation will harm Abela but what I am sure of is that the contrabandist comment was unnecessary and kept the ball firmly in the PN's territory. It also kept the fuel hub on the agenda for longer than it de- served. It was an unscripted interven- tion on the part of the prime minister that should never have been said in the first place. Re- active politics does not always favour the incumbent party. For example, the long tech- nical response and reaction on Saturday by Robert Abela to the PN's proposal to abolish suc- cession tax was interesting and good. But it was reactive. I am one of the few people who em- braces succession tax and sees it as a socially-driven measure. The people who are going to benefit most from this proposal if it is implemented, are the big property owners and big busi- ness. But there is no denying that the PN's proposal to re- move inheritance tax altogether on property passed down from parents to children, will be wel- comed by many, including nor- mal folk. The agenda needs to be set by the party that wants to set the direction and, in this respect, Alex Borg, has managed to keep his agenda centre stage. He has already skilfully steered away from not making corrup- tion an issue and has gone to great lengths not to mention Joseph Muscat. He is also blessed with the com- plete absence of the group R e p u b b l i k a and satellites that do not form part of the PN but are associated with it. Those distractions are no longer considera- tions in the campaign. After a slow start, the PN is now in full campaign mode and they want everyone to listen even when they know people are not in the mood. The PL have a formidable team but are constrained to see what Borg says and react to him. In the process this is mak- ing the PN so much more rele- vant than it ever was although its task to take on the PL's track record on the economy is far from easy. But other hiccups along the campaign trail have not helped the PL. The Manoel Island padel fiasco—a very fortunate businessman is expected to be fined a measly €900 for illegal- ly built padel courts—is one such hiccup. All those inde- pendent-minded people, who campaigned for Manoel Island to become a national park are in a dilemma over the padel is- sue, which has also raised the ire of ordinary folk, who have had to pay fines running into thousands of euros to sanction mi- nor planning t r a n s g r e s - sions. The sa- ga took an ugli- er twist w h e n the prime m i n i s t e r said the decision as to whether the padel courts should be sanctioned or not was the remit of the Planning Authori- ty. Everyone knows that the PA is far from an independent au- thority with a mind of its own. It is not detached from what the executive wishes for. But there was also another ugly incident characterising the campaign's second week— Omar Rababah's candidacy with the PL and the vitriol it attracted. Nothing can justify the xeno- phobic comments, some even racist, from both sides of the political divide because Omar, a Muslim, decided to contest the election on a Labour ticket. The backlash was confirmation of our reluctance to embrace cultural diversity even though Omar is as Maltese as a Maltese could be. 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 MAY 2026 OPINION Saviour Balzan It is money galore, unscripted comments and racial slurs Founder and co-owner of Media Today, publisher of MaltaToday, he is a TV host and pollster Robert Abela & Alex Borg ON TVM • THURSDAY 21 MAY • 9.15PM Labour candidate Omar Rababah The illegally built padel courts at Manoel Island (Photo: Manoel Island Post Ghalina)