Five months have been frittered away since the last general election, and many MPs must be wondering by now why the government has been long on oratory and short in activity during this period.

Those in Opposition would be keen to break out of the oppressive feeling that builds up during long years in the wilderness. Those on the government side want to consolidate their position, but they have been doing little more than kicking the dust.

There will be some politicians who will have hardly any grounds for looking their constituents in the eye.

There will be young hopefuls who will aspire to gain the support of the electorate by proposing to do a better job than those who neglected or gave the cold shoulder to their constituents.

After all, when the moment of truth arrives, it will be the sovereign electorate, and not the politicians, who will decide how the next Parliament will be composed.

The veterans who served their constituents well will survive – and there will be a breed of young hopefuls, in both major parties, who will make their debut on the political stage and will, hopefully, upgrade the level of Maltese politics in the years to come.

One thing is certain. God will smile on us and give us the grain, but we must make the furrow. Now and in the future, furrows are made by constructive work and by positive policies.

Procrastination, administrative incompetence, obstructionism, vitriolic speeches and malevolent political partisanship will not, and cannot, improve the condition of the people. They might raise the temperature for a time. But when it is the turn of the electorate to make its calculated decisions, common sense will prevail over fanaticism.

There is a down-to-earth way of assessing the weight of those who are likely to swing the pendulum in the prevailing Maltese electoral context.

In this tight, handkerchief-sized island, where there are a hundred dogs for every bone, one has to avoid generalisations and appreciate the nuances. While it is true, at first sight, that there are a hundred dogs for every bone, the fundamental truth is that not all the dogs are interested in the bone. Ninety of them are only interested in keeping the remaining 10 away from the bone. The solution is to identify the dogs that are the decision makers and to empower them.

In Malta’s polarised climate, the diehards in one camp cancel out the others on the opposite side. It is the floating vote that swings the pendulum.

The answer is to educate and expand the floating vote – to give power to its elbow, and to bring the demi-gods round to see reason, in their own enlightened self-interest, not to say survival.

In a democracy, freedom implies dissent. We must encourage the electorate, on each side of the political divide, and, indeed, in all existing and future political parties, to seek the truth and the truth should not depend on whom it is to serve.

The enlightened segment of the electorate should be encouraged to question and to demand answers. This has to be done through a process of dialogue and participation. We need more investigative efforts, at best to expose the demi-gods and, at worst, to liberate them from the clutches of their acolytes. This is how to let fresh air in and invigorate each and every political party.

It has been done in other democracies, although it may have taken time. In Malta, the winds of change have been blowing fair. They are likely to accelerate.

The most important psychological change is the growing realization by the average citizen that Gordian knots exist to be cut, and that it is worth investing the nation’s resources in a national effort to cut them.

Yet another important point worth highlighting relates to the primacy of the moral dimension. Poverty is making inroads in the low and middle-income sectors of society, as relentless, crushing taxation takes its toll and rapidly rising living costs erode spending power. This situation has been building up for some years.

Instead of restraining expenditure, the government chose to ride the high horse of deficit spending and gathered speed through sustained debts. The cost of government has soared as if there is no tomorrow. Social justice cries out for urgent and active remedial measures.

These considerations, and others like them, will, most certainly, bring themselves to bear on the silent majority. And on the floating voter, as the electorate feels the pinch.

In the arena of Maltese politics, as elsewhere, power and principle need a balance. That balance has been lacking and those in the middle and lower brackets of the electorate have paid a heavy price.

It is high time that that balance is achieved.

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