So much for Joseph/Labour being “safe for business”. Malta Chamber of Commerce: “Leaving the country without a budget for reasons which have nothing to do with the budget itself is the height of irresponsibility.”
timesofmalta.com reported some hours ago:
The Malta Chamber of Commerce said this afternoon that leaving the country without a budget was ‘the height of irresponsibility’.
In a statement, the Chamber said it was extremely worried about the consequences that would result should the budget not be approved in Parliament. “This uncertainty is and will continue to hurt the economy,” it said.
“Leaving the country without a budget for reasons which have nothing to do with the budget itself is the height of irresponsibility.”
It noted that there was general consensus amongst the social partners that the budget presented last week was an exercise that aimed to consolidate national finances. It was a budget that would support the private sector in its efforts to continue to create economic growth.
“It is normal within any democratic country that political differences arise and that political debates take place. This is the sign of a healthy democracy. The Malta Chamber however cannot accept that the wellbeing of the economy should be sacrificed for political gain. If the economy goes down, it is the whole country that suffers. If the economy goes down the first casualty will those people who will lose their jobs,” it said.
“All politicians must be fully aware of this… Politicians on both sides of the political divide have very often professed to be guided by the national interest. Now is the time to show that this is indeed the case,” the Chamber added.
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Joseph Muscat will never sacrifice the egonomy for personal political gain.
The thing which tickles me is that JosephPL will LEAVE (Inhallu) business work, unlike GonziPN which encourages business to work with a plethora of financial aid schemes.
MCC is right, but a number of questions remain unanswered.
Why has the PN presented this budget in this particular situation?
Why not fix internal issues to ensure the budget gets through?
Good thing to have a budget in place, but what about the point of taxing businessmen before they make their profit? MCC?
Is the PN using the budget vote as a pressure source.
Is Joseph Muscat and PL the root cause of all these problem?
With a buget in place and an obviously divided PN in government, will the situation improve?
Should not PN concentrate its electoral campaign on the substancial ammount of improvments it made, rather than trying to scare with a PL that has not been in power for 1/4 centuary?
How good or bad Joseph Muscat may be can only be proven on his performance in government.
Re your last para – I do not want to vote in Joseph Muscat just to see how one can prove his performance in government.
His performance in Opposition already leaves much to be desired.
Thank you but I do not want to risk at this time. I think the PL needs a few more years in opposition to clean up their act.
Another thing – Joseph Muscat might garner some votes if he chooses to vote in the budget.
That should really prove to us that he is only thinking of the people and not his own aspirations and ambitions.
He does not convince me when he says that all political propaganda will stop during the Christmas – New Year period. Joseph Muscat can then ask for a vote of confidence in this government.
That is the wish I have a feeling of the majority of the Maltese.
The excuse that all oppositions previously voted against the budget no longer holds water to me. Let us do something different for once and show how politically mature we have become.
Miki, the last time the majority gauged how good or bad Labour would be by seeing their performance in government, they drove the country into a ditch and instead of attempting to reverse out of it, they insisted on ploughing on down.
You’d think that at a distance of sixteen years, they would have revitalised, but instead, what we are dumped with is an Alfred Sant protégé, morally supported by Alfred Sant’s PA and Mintoff’s detritus nipping at his heels and moulding his policies.
I can understand the hardcore Labour ~30% of the electorate not voting with this in mind, but it’s perplexing that supposedly intelligent and discerning voters are willing to erect a mental block to this reality, for reasons known only to them, but probably simply out of boredom and spite.
Mikki, I usually try on a pair of shoes I intend to buy – to feel their fit (read ‘performance’).
I may or may not like them. If I don’t, I simply refrain from buying them.
Choosing a political party to run the country may ‘differ slightly’ from buying a pair of shoes. No question, therefore, of voting Muscat into government to try out his performance.
I have been watching – and sometimes tasting – Labour for the best part of 56 long years – probably longer than you have been here on this earth.
Spot on, Miki
So Joseph Muscat’s gimmick that he will implement the Budget measures has not had the desired effect. The self-employed are still not trusting him.
Probably, the best way forward is to have the budget approved, after which, an elections date is to be announced.
And let the people decide who to trust with government for the next 5 years.
Agree with you 100%
I have saying this for weeks if not months. The prime minister and the leader of the opposition should be discussing this right now, and come to some sort of agreement.
That would be what Joseph promised as soon as elected leader. That he’ll work with government in the most constructive of manners.
Most will have forgotten this minor detail, that it could be what determined a part of the registered swing.
And then something happened, causing his secretive policy process. I’m not surprised it had to come to this, four years of gradual decline couldn’t take us elsewhere.
If, as most PL representatives on this blog are saying, we elected a parliament, where’s the leader of the opposition?
Franco is clear, as is JPO, Joseph isn’t, PN wannabe he may be.
so its LP fault that we are in this situation? FD has been threatening to vote against the budget for months , why the PM didnt call the elections then? Why the PM doesnt agree with the LP …. elections will be called in March and the LP will support the budget….why it is the LP that has to `give` …this situation of instabilty is not the oppositions fault…why they have to carry the `can`..?
Why why why – lots of questions. I think that some of the instability situation does rest with the Opposition. Why carry the can – because we want what is really good for Malta and not for our own personal ambitions.
This statement would have been credible had Franco made his declaration that he would be voting against the budget in the last few days. But we all know that the writing has been on the wall for quite a while now. With all due respect, the Chamber could and should have spoken much earlier!
I really put myself to the test and tried to listen to the Leader of the opposition’s reply to the budget this week but I did not manage to last through the charade. But why is it that everything the LP does has to have a gimick as a basis of all it wants to do or express itself in?
If Joseph Muscat thinks that by repeating’ Ma ghandix fiducja fil gvern’ ad nauseum is a way of attracting floating voters to his stable, my opinion is that he is utterly mistaken.
All I can note is that the man knew beforehand that if he did not include this type of rhetoric and baseless repitition in his budget speech he wouldnt have lasted the two hours allocated to him.
I fear for election day, and not because it would be the Nationalist Party that ends up in opposition but because seriously the alternative party to govern has no idea as to the difference between ‘politics’ and ‘governing’.
It is so easy to sit in the opposition seat and degrade, knockdown lie about and oppose everything that the PN government does, but I bet my two cents worth that if LP get a chance to govern, we are in deep trouble. I see no maturity, expertise or experience in what they have to offer. Rhetoric is one thing Mr. Joseph, actually getting down to the basis of governing is out of your league. Mark my words.
I am holding my breath to hear what Marlene of the Business Forum has to say. Will probably suffocate. Oh well.
I suppose that by now the floating voters have woken up and again, I am now more than sure that they will reason things out and drop anchor and stop floating.
By the way about remarks above.
If Gonzi had given way to Franco Debono’s blackmail, he would have had a huge number of PN supporters leaving the fold.
Gonzi did right and if one agrees with the busget then in all honesty one MUST vote in favour.
This will take u to the end of this legislature in a gentlemanly manner and then the way will be clear for the elections; which, with this shining budget, Gonzi should again be the winner by a bigger margin than the last election – an to hell with the surveys that put Labour ahead.
By bringing this legislature to an end, Dr Gonzi has given a salient lesson in good governance not just to Dr Sant but to all potential and relevant political leaders.
If Joseph’s Labour Party votes against this good and balanced budget , then I can conclude that Joseph’s PL is none the different from the previous MLP Versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and Joseph’s latest version: 2.0.
Labour won’t change and it can’t change with all those old men at the helm advising ‘the young boy’ Joseph.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Or for plebeians like Gahan, PL is like the Three Hills tomato paste, they change the package but not the content. No need to emphasise that the tomato paste, unlike the PL, is good.
If he wants to save the budget he can order two of his to abstain
ghal dawk in nazjonalisti li jaraw biss blue.. jiena ma nafx kif ma tarawx il hnizrijiet li qed isiru.. intom jew il genituri takom ma jircivux kont tad dawl??? ma tafu lil hadd li jahdem lisptar mater dei bhala cleaner jew careworker???? ma tafu lil hadd li kellu jew ghandu xi grocer??? ma tafu lil hadd li kien kuntrattur zghir???? mena tkelmu ma dawn in nies u tkunu tafuwha ir risposta!!!