As the campaign draws to an end the undecided voter takes centre stage, we put forward an undecided voters’ guide for this election on theDailySpot #25.

Our guiding principles should be:

1) Understand what you really want;

2) Voting is always better than not;

3) Don’t choose just for the sake of choosing something.

Easier said than done. But here are some facts.

Ultimately, what happens on 26 March will determine your next five years.

Let’s start. 

Fuel and Energy Prices

Tik-Tok and Facebook are currently inundated with memes from all over the globe with individuals humoristically protesting the astronomical spikes in fuel and energy prices.

Some pretend to fill their car tanks with pipettes, others cooking on candles, and the list goes on. In Malta the themes are more lighthearted, from Zaren’s boob jobs, to Bernard’s football skills, and the Government’s tax rebate cheques.

Wait… what?

So when the rest of Europe is battling rising costs and introducing austerity measures the Maltese Government was in a solid enough position to issue generous tax rebates?

How come?

The answer is simple, the Government’s long-term energy strategy paid off and its budget regime allowed it to be in the current position so that during an unprecedented international crisis it could stimulate the economy and not restrain it.

Do we want to go back to when the Nationalist Party was revising upwards energy and fuel prices every few months or do you prefer the current market stability?

Because on energy the Labour Party is proposing robust continuity whilst the Nationalist Party is offering very costly pie in the sky. 

Environment

Environment is a sore point. After the 2013 election the Labour Government turned around the economic situation through tireless work. The following legislature was focused on revamping infrastructure and the next one, should Labour be confirmed, it will go down in the history book as the one with the largest ever investment and prioritisation in the environment sector.

More on what is being proposed for the environment here.

Our advice on this matter is to stir away from buzzwords and focus on the parties’ respective reliability and likelihood in delivering what they promise.

After all, a 700 million euro investment is worth everyone’s attention.

Unemployment & Economic Growth

Many of us remember the times when Malta was under the EU excessive deficit procedure and when unemployment figures made news for all the wrong reasons virtually every month?

The Nationalist Party at the time was so detached from reality that during the 2013 electoral campaign they even had the audacity to copy a UK billboard with a Labour Won’t Work sign on it alluding to massive unemployment. Fast forward to today and Malta is coming out of an international crisis with the lowest ever unemployment figures, the highest projected economic growth, and recurrent years of surplus budgets.

We’re all agreeing that the choice here is a no-brainer, right?

Traffic and Malta’s Road Network

Malta’s road surfacing calendar used to follow visits from foreign dignitaries. And hey, not everyone qualified, it had to be at least a Queen or a Pope.

A road network left in a miserable state costing the economy millions of euro in damages yearly and wasted time.

Today we can see the result of a intensive 7-year road network regeneration that although still underway has rebuilt, not simply resurfaced, most of the Islands’ network and created major new junctions in areas that suffered chronic backlogs.

Is the problem solved?

We would say only partly because Malta’s growing economy continuously demands better infrastructure. 

However, when one looks at what the parties are proposing the options are clear too. The PN wants to eat up half of the road network to accommodate once again bendy buses, even larger that last time, and the PL, whilst continuing its seven-year strategy is proceeding into the next exciting phase of the metro project with the required geotechnical investigation expected to get underway soon.

So, unless you’re into bendy buses we guess you’ll have to pass on the PN’s proposal.

Make sure you ponder carefully on all of the above, because these segments will shape wellbeing in Malta, a few wrong choices could bankrupt our economy, but your good decision will allow the island to continue progressing from strength to strength on the same model.