The political cycle does not spare anyone or any one party anywhere in the world. When it is time to change, it is simply the time to change or go bust. The voters and the social climate tell you so in very clear terms and you refuse to take the hint only at your peril. There are many examples of parties all over Europe which failed to realise this and eventually either faded away, like the Christian Democrats in Italy, or, like the Socialists again in Italy, inevitably accept the reality of an instant reduction to political irrelevance.

Those who did take heed, like the Communists and their right-wing rivals, survived under new names in new groupings and with new leaderships. Even Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia has had to reassess itself and to readjust to the new climate brought about by the freshness and determination of Matteo Renzi at the head of an unrecognisable centre-left ensemble, the Democratic Party (PD).

Only real change can give political parties and politicians a new lease of life. It is a principle that rigidly applies to all political colours and hues. Sometimes, parties have to re-invent themselves to retain the support of even the most faithful among their supporters. Refusing to acknowledge this need is irreparably damaging.

We have seen such instances in our own modern political history. When Dom Mintoff took over the Labour Party from Pawlu Boffa in the 50s, the main characteristic of the change was the dynamic process of transformation from a party deep in traditionalist roots to one of social challenge and national freedom. The same thing can be said about the Nationalist Party when Eddie Fenech Adami took over from George Borg Olivier's almost-defunct party in the late 70s. More often than not, the cycle always goes into full throttle when the party is in Opposition or has just been dumped there with an almighty thud.

The Labour Party could hardly avoid undergoing yet another auto-rejuvenation in the early 90s when Alfred Sant assumed the party leadership and immediately set about slowly getting it out of its turbulent 80s attitude. But having won in 1996, it was perhaps thought it had done the trick, only to be brought down, albeit unfairly, back to earth, literally, just two years later after which it had to endure a series of three election defeats. The process of change had, for various reasons, simply not been left to go the whole hog.

Until Joseph Muscat... who went for the party's jugular and swiftly rang the changes that needed to be made. Not cosmetic changes, but fundamental changes that steered the Labour Party into new avenues it had always been afraid to tread. It was a long but determined process that eventually won the party its credibility back, aided no doubt by the general disenchantment with the Nationalists who had been in power for 25 years minus the 1996-1998 hiccup.

The result was, of course, Labour's record victory in the March 2013 general election that put the Nationalists in an immediate conundrum: to change or not to change. Given their crushing defeat at the polls, one would have expected them to opt quickly for change, real change, but in truth it has not happened yet.

Real change has nothing to do with suddenly re-discovering principles and beliefs one blatantly ignored when in power just a few months previously. It has to be convincing, and such conviction cannot be achieved by the frontline projection of old, discarded faces. Simon Busuttil himself, the present PN leader, authored the party's 2008 and 2013 electoral manifestos, both of which were rejected by the majority. He has kept himself surrounded by the same leftover group of politicians who cost the party the last election.

The complete overhaul one was expecting after the election debacle never materialised. Most pundits believe that with Busuttil at the helm this cannot happen. It is why the Nationalists are currently caught in a vicious circle. Real change still has to be seen, and to be felt, to occur.

 

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All that glitters

The international media was recently full of news about different nations seeking to repatriate their gold reserves to national vaults by way of boosting public confidence at a time when new economic crises are looming ahead.

The Netherlands has moved $5 billion worth of gold from New York, and some have been calling for similar action from France, Switzerland, and Germany. The Dutch central bank - De Nederlandsche Bank - was one of the latest to make the move. The bank announced that it moved a fifth of its total 612.5-metric-ton gold reserve from New York to Amsterdam in early November.

It has been reported that an unmatched pace of money printing by major central banks has caused concerns in European countries on the safety of their gold reserves abroad.

This brings us to our gold - if we still have any - or whatever was left of it by the previous government as it tried to grapple helplessly with a spiralling national debt that is now being addressed.

While acknowledging the country's economic revival, people deserve to know what the Monroy situation (refer to our history books) is today.

 

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Action at last

It is good to see the authorities launching a massive project to rehabilitate the whole Bighi area in Kalkara, superbly situated as it is at the very entrance to Malta's panoramic Grand Harbour.

It is an area I know well. As a child, and the son of a RN chief petty officer, I used to run errands for my mum at the NAAFI shop in the impeccably-kept naval hospital complex. I was also treated inside that hospital, as were most injured Kalkara children at the time, when I fell while trying to hold on to a full bottle of milk, with obvious consequences. The enduring memory is of the two beautiful English roses working as nurses who pampered me all the way through the stitching-up procedure!

It is also from where many of us took free trips to Valletta on board the "St Angelo" ferry that made daily stops at Bighi. The Maltese sailors who ran it did not seem to mind, though they were always visibly cautious when the waters of Grand Harbour were a lot livelier than usual.

The project will give further momentum to the welcome regeneration process of the whole southern part of the island, for far too long the dumping groundof consecutive administrations.

Across the water from Bighi, there is Fort Ricasoli, the biggest fortress built at the time of the Knights. Like Bighi, it is crying out loudly for attention.