Let us face it, the 36,000 majority by which the PL won the March general election does not reflect the Maltese political spectrum. Neither did the 2009 European Parliament election, which was won by the PL by almost the same majority. It is evident that these unrealistic majorities were the result of many disgruntled PN supporters, who thought that the Party was not listening and have kept Maltese politics so artificially unbalanced.

Now that the March debacle is over, the PN is struggling hard to win back the support of the Maltese. The struggle is an uphill one, because those who think that the PN disappointed them are many and also because the PL is back in government after a long time and will certainly not let it go that easily. The PN is aware of this, but it also knows that governments are not there to stay. Sooner or later, it will have the chance to return to power, but given the situation, this will certainly have to be achieved in stages. As a result, the first stage that the PN wants to reach, is the third seat in the European Parliament at the upcoming election next May.  

For the PN, this third seat has become vital, more than it has ever been before. In fact, apart from the negative electoral results, the PN found itself in a precarious financial situation which we all know of. These developments led to two opposite moods within the PN. On the one hand, there was a sudden surge of enthusiasm, which kept the PN going throughout the difficult post-election period. On the other, there was a sort of depression, which hit various PN supporters and which is hiding from them the light at the end of the tunnel. The second mood has been so far counter balanced by the first one. However, we know that within a political Party, enthusiasm can be kept at high levels, only if good political results keep coming. In view of this, the best political result that the PN can get in the coming months, is precisely the third seat in the European Parliament. The PN cannot afford to miss this target, because the risks are high. In case of failure, the depression referred to before, might creep further in and results will certainly not be pleasant. 

The third seat in the European Parliament will not just be a good political result for the PN. It will also mean that in just a year, the PN will have eliminated the large majority by which the PL won the election in March. This would finally balance out representation between the PN and the PL within the European Parliament. Moreover, this would be a historical result, because so far at European Parliament elections, the PL has always won more seats than the PN. Such was definitely unjust, because out of the two Parties, the PL was the one that wanted to keep Malta out of the European Union and consequently the one that did not want Malta to be represented in the European Parliament.

A third seat in the European Parliament for the PN will also send an important message to the PL government. Such a seat will mean that the PL has lost the wide support it had. It will also mean that the Maltese are no longer prepared to accept the way the PL is governing and that it’s time that it changes direction. This message has become crucial, because this government seems to be thinking that after the large majority by which it was elected last march, it has become sort of invincible. They govern as if they were the only Party in Parliament and as if their reign will last forever. The political transfers, promotions and appointments, regardless of rules and the shameful citizenship on sale law, are just few examples of all this.

Now, the ball is in the court of the PN and it has until May to score and win three seats in the European Parliament. In order to achieve this, I think that there is only one formula. the PN needs to stress, more than it has been doing so far, the importance of the third seat in the European Parliament and that such a seat is not just another seat, but the seat that will strike the balance in Maltese politics, thus making it healthier.

Kevin Cutajar

PN candidate for the European Parliament election)

Email. [email protected]

Website. www.kevincutajar.com