Two years ago yesterday, Malta voted to keep the Nationalist Party in government for the second successive term, the fourth in the last five legislatures.

It was a time when Malta needed to decide its future. European Union membership hung in the balance in that election, which followed the referendum on EU membership.

A month earlier, the Yes vote had prevailed but the Malta Labour Party had not accepted the result, almost forcing then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami to call an election several months before the government’s term of office was due to expire.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Malta became an EU member in May last year and, a couple of months preceding that, Dr Fenech Adami ceded his position to become President after Dr Lawrence Gonzi had succeeded him both as Nationalist Party leader and later as Prime Minister.

It has not been an easy year for Dr Gonzi. His party has lost three elections in a row since the April 2003 victory – two local council elections and the European Parliament poll to elect Malta’s five representatives in this European body.

Of course, it has often been said and we repeat it once again that there is no comparison between local council elections – and the one for the EP as well – and a general election. But matters do look bleak for the PN and, with the MLP making inroads and banking on its closer contacts with the people, the PN has a tough hill to climb.

EU membership, which basically enabled the PN to win the 2003 election, has still to sink in and although the benefits of such a move have started to filter through, it is after all a long-term investment the fruit of which will be seen in the years to come.

The fact that Malta’s Objective One status in the EU has been retained for the period 2007-2013 was good news for the government but more so for the country as a whole.

However there are other problems the government has to face, matters which have a direct bearing on the way we live and as such, could swing the balance one way or the other much more than getting more funds from the EU – important as much as they are – will.

For one thing, the country’s economy is still struggling. Unemployment is still high, with over 8,000

people registering for work at the last count.

The government has managed to curb the country’s deficit but the momentum needs to be maintained to push it further down.

Added to this, over the past year there were several issues that did not go down too well with the people. The introduction of the eco-contribution, the surcharge on water and electricity and the gas shortage problem we had this winter did not help the government’s popularity. The reduction of vacation leave through the change to the public holidays law was also costly to the PN.

The government has defended the moves it has taken saying these were a necessary medicine the country needed at this point in time but, on the other hand, it cannot have expected that such moves would be welcomed by the man in the street.

There are now more or less three years until the next election is due.

It is common for governments to take the more unpopular measures in the opening stages of their term, only to sugar the pill later on during the legislature.

There is still a long way to go until we are all asked to give our preferences and, therefore, the PN still has ample time to recover the ground it has lost.

The MLP, for its part, will do all it can to continue exposing the government’s weaknesses in order to gain support.

More water will have to pass under the bridge until 2008, but the race is already on.