If only air conditioners could cool political temperament, the world would be a much better place.

If you haven’t heard the latest political scoop, apparently in Malta sales of air conditioning units have plummeted due to rumors of an imminent election. No need to fact check this claim as its source has not as yet made any name for himself in terms of credibility. Alex Borg keeps shooting from the hip, but his point, this time, although verging on the farcical, is still worth some consideration. 

Air conditioning units are nowadays widely used to keep households cool over the hot summer months. For people that are more vulnerable to heat, such as older people, air conditioners are now an affordable necessity. This was not always the case, not simply because of the cost of the appliance itself, but mainly due to the high and unpredictable energy prices Malta had become accustomed to before the Labour Party took office in 2013.

But let’s leave air conditioners alone for a moment to focus on the main point that Alex Borg has probably inadvertently raised. Are elections still a source of instability?

Prime Minister Robert Abela already answered this quite beautifully. ‘The election will come when national interest dictates it’, and ‘uncertainty is only in the minds of those trying to create it’.

Cool headed leadership is what allowed Malta to stand out in every major international crisis.

During Covid, when businesses across the EU were shutting down, in Malta they were receiving assistance and incentives. The general population, instead of being faced with austerity and mass redundancies, received job security, and even cash vouchers to continue to stimulate the economy towards a strong post covid rebound. This not to mention the world class health service offered free of charge during the pandemic.

The international economic upheavals brought first by the Russian war in Ukraine, and now by the Iran war, were also met with decisive stability. With Government as a firm guarantor, absorbing international volatility, allowing the economy to continue outperforming subtatinatilly the EU averages, but more tangibly, allowing the Maltese to continue to prosper.

So what does an election signify nowadays?

To put it simply, for the vast majority of the Maltese and the business community, it has now become an opportunity of continued stability. An investment in 5 years of stable energy prices, full employability, no new taxes, and continued infrastructural investments with a very strong focus on health and green projects.

The question that remains to be answered is why Alex Borg has uncertainty on his mind? The answer to this one is pretty obvious, but we won’t spell it out for you. However, it is also very clear to everyone, that the large number of current Nationalist MPs that have chosen not to recontest the coming election, have already figured it out.