Now that the European Parliament election is behind us, it’s time for a deep and serious analysis of the message, or rather messages, that the electorate sent to the Nationalist Party. Much has been said and written about the results, while little has been said about the local elections, which resulted in a different trend.

In the media circus that followed the EP election results, there was sensational news about the PN parliamentary group meetings. Frankly speaking, these meetings are always animated, especially those which occur after such an important election. It is also quite understandable that the media creates such sensationalism around these meetings because, after all, they need to increase their circulation figures.

As a whip of the PN parliament group, I together with my colleagues push for an open and healthy debate since the parliamentarians represent all 13 districts. We do not need a party where no dissenting voices are allowed, or where one person speaks and the rest nod their head in consent. Ideas and criticism need to be shared freely without any fear or perception of repercussion. PM Gonzi himself is not too keen on yes men.

New ideas and constant change have always been winning tools for the PN. Deep down we all know that the PN needs to work harder. Most of the PN electorate does not vote PN because of birth but mainly because of conviction. The natural base is much smaller than that of the Labour Party.

In the majority of general elections since 1981 the PN has managed to convince the electorate to vote it in power. The party needs to maintain this historic course, one of constant change, and being at the forefront of new visions for Malta – evolving from manufacturing economy to one based on services, opening up the economy, strengthening democracy and the country’s institutions, removing all barriers to trade, introducing pluralism in broadcasting, introducing local councils, joining the EU, adopting the Euro as our currency, etc etc...

We have always managed to convince the electorate, and over time, albeit extremely slowly, we have managed to convince our opponents as well, whose initial reaction was always and constantly to maintain the status quo.

The expectation gap is higher for the PN, and the party, together with the parliamentary group and the government, must meet the targets at all costs. The PN should never ever take the electorate for granted and should not rest on its laurels because of past achievements. The electorate today is different from a decade ago, let alone from the generation of the late 1970s and 1980s.

Today the electorate is no longer fighting for democracy, it is not fighting for basic material things and jobs, it is no longer striving for EU membership. This is the past. The PN must get back to its roots to understand the mood of the country and the new demands, both individually and also collectively as a society. Demands increase exponentially.

The PN has created a demanding western society, and hopefully it should not be a victim of its own success. Various European politicians became victims of their own success: Thatcher, Aznar and Kohl to name a few. The Nationalist Party must remain on a path of change and transformation, while at the same time understanding the mood of the country. Although tempting, the PN should not opt for populist politics and glorifying the status quo and procrastination. This is our opponents’ attitude. They have consistently resisted change (opening up the economy, EU membership, Euro adoption, local councils etc), but eventually they had to accept these changes as well since the electorate, which is supreme, have embraced all these changes.

The PN should constantly be honest with the electorate, even if the truth is uncomfortable. Deception might work in the short term but it will never work in the long term. Unfortunately during the EP campaign there was a higher dose of lies and complete abandonment of ethical behaviour. The Labour Party under the new leadership has politicised the immigration issue, something that Alfred Sant, to his credit, never did.

There is a limit of unethical behaviour that one should never exceed. The new leadership of the Labour Party rode on the fear of the illegal immigrants, and rather than explaining the real situation and the plight of these human beings, actually fanned the fear and anger, without proposing any tangible solutions. It courted the anti immigrant vote, competing with the far right parties. Without any shame, they spoke about the plight just after the election after an illegal immigrant was killed in Paceville. Same attitude for the energy bills and the cost of producing energy in Malta. During the campaign the Labour Party gave the impression with immense deception that they will maintain the bills intact irrespective of the cost of fuel and energy production, whereas they admitted that prices cannot remain unchanged only after the EP election.

Hopefully in the next four years the PN will work harder to remain in touch with the electorate while at the same time working on the government agenda based on last year’s electoral programme. I would like to invite all those readers who would like to contribute any feedback or suggestion to contact me immediately. This would be highly appreciated. My email is always available [email protected]

David Agius is the government whip