The guest author is known to me.

It is surreal to think that as we enter 2018 we should be on the verge of a general election after the Labour Government’s first term of 5 years in office…. a general election in which in a normal democracy the Government of the day and the Opposition will stand head-to-head in a contest of equals both in a position to be elected.
The truth is that in an abnormal democracy that Malta has become, this general election has already been had… prematurely; the reasons for which have been well documented on this blog, other blogs and also in some local and international media. But instead we now have a stronger than ever Labour Government and a weaker than ever PN in Opposition.
Also, in the meantime since the premature last general election in June 2017, a top investigative local journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia has been assassinated in October 2017. It is important never to forget that her writing was predominantly of a political nature and largely focused on the Labour Goverment and the corrupt ways of its top brass. Three people have been arrested and are in the process of being tried for having committed the murder but nothing has been said about the possible person that ordered them to hit and murder Daphne. There has been a lot of noise from the international media in this regard and the EU has made its voice heard also even though that has been lame as nothing has happened to put the Prime Minister on the spot. Malta and the Maltese have largely remained silent bar an initial few large protests and walks in the days after her assassination.
As I caught up with some Maltese friends over the Christmas period I realised something very striking…. when all is said and done about the current political climate in Malta, especially following Daphne’s murder, ultimately Malta’s economic performance is what is quoted…. so as to say, the Labour Government of the day is exonerated from all responsibility just because the economic numbers are fine.
I found this baffling to say the least as I consider myself rational and unbiased when faced with reality of what is going on. But at the end of the day this made me realise that Joseph Muscat and his Government have succeeded in their quest of blinding the Maltese with whatever they want to blind them with while at the same time going about their personal shady business matters unabated. On the other hand, I have also realised how short sighted and closed minded the Maltese people have become, or perhaps they have always been.
The saying goes that in a democracy “the people get the Government they deserve.” The majority of the Maltese have chosen this route for Malta even when they were given the chance to stop it in June 2017. In my view, they have fallen into the trap set-up with intent by Joseph Muscat’s Government.
I have historically always voted for the PN. Today, the reality is that I feel like a political orphan in Malta and a complete minority with absolutely no representation from any political party as the PN is also at an all time low (another Muscat success). I also feel a complete lack of confidence in our institutions (Police, Attorney General, Courts etc) which makes the situation even worse.
Something is bound to go wrong somewhere for this Labour Government and perhaps we are not far off from that day now. In the meantime, the sooner this happens the less pain in the end for Malta. Then, the Maltese electorate will realise what their choices at the polls since March 2013 have really meant. It will be interesting to see how they will react then and how Malta will pull through especially since the political options are now extremely limited.
I fear the worst. As Daphne concluded – “The situation is desperate.”