Those, few or many, who may have been listening in to Parliament earlier this week, when the House began to discuss the Bill on election spending, must have been astounded to hear the speech by the Secretary General of the Nationalist Party, Chris Said.

For in this speech, Dr Said listed in clear and unambiguous terms, the many cases where the Labour Party has committed injustices at the expense of the Nationalist Party: party clubs in expropriated buildings, being given buildings such as Australia Hall and then after allowing it to deteriorate not being made to fork out for the repairs, its own television station housed in a government-owned factory while the PN had to almost go into receivership to rebuild its headquarters where it could house its own station, etc etc.

It is not that these facts were not known. But rather the fact that hearing so many facts massed and compressed together gets a special significance of its own.

The question then arises, at least in the minds of many people: Why is the Nationalist Party playing ball with the government when so many abuses and illegalities are not redressed?

It is not that people want the party in Opposition to continually oppose, although that is its constitutional role, but definitely many people do not want the alternative government to serve as a doormat.

One does not know if any or many of the cases mentioned by Dr Said merit a court case, but the party must make a strong case that it wants the abuses and injustices rectified before one could say there is peace and harmony in the country.

Nor can it be said that while in government, the Nationalist Party committed as many abuses against Labour as happened vice-versa. If there were indeed some such cases, the Nationalist Party must declare its readiness to rectify such (hypothetical) abuses.

Not all cases mentioned by Dr Said are of the same gravity, so a hierarchy of sorts must be drawn up. Nor do all cases mentioned present the same quotient of gravity.

The government, strong by reason of its huge majority, may choose to play deaf to Dr Said’s arguments but the party in Opposition must not let this deter it. There can be no reasonable accommodation built on the basis of injustice and abuse. To allow this is to invite further abuses and injustices.