Last week, the Nationalist Party celebrated its second anniversary since the electorate gave it the go-ahead to lead the country for another five years. To mark this occasion, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi delivered probably one of his longest press conferences in his political career to explain what the government has done since it was re-elected in 2003.

He said the country was on the right track, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Although Dr Gonzi expressed his “cautious optimism” that the country, thanks to the measures the government has taken and will be taking, is on the right track, the man in the street is not as optimistic that things can get better anytime soon.

Most of what Dr Gonzi said during the press conference last Wednesday was positive – as was expected from the man leading the country – but the “feel-good factor” among the population is practically non-existent.

The fact that people are complaining gives the Labour Party in opposition the opportunity to ride on this negative wave and criticise the government for being the reason why the people in Malta, as the MLP says, cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Let us not forget that since the 2003 polls, there have been three elections – two for local councils and one for the European Parliament – which, although on a different level, could be interpreted as protest votes against the government.

Following the most recent defeat for the Nationalist Party at the 12 March local council elections, Dr Gonzi admitted, when replying to a question by The Malta Independent, that one of the reasons why there was no confidence in his government was probably because of a lack of information.

Dr Gonzi seemed unsure of the reason why the PN had received such a heavy blow. Although he blamed it on the fact that the PN in government was taking difficult decisions, which could have caused the loss in popularity, Dr Gonzi also mentioned the possibility that the party was not listening enough and was ignoring what people really wanted.

During the press conference last Wednesday, Dr Gonzi once again admitted that maybe people needed to be more informed about what was being done. He mentioned several measures which have been introduced by the government to improve the country’s financial deficit while at the same time cutting costs and administrative expenses and increasing productivity and competitiveness.

Sooner or later, these measures had to be tackled seriously and resolved, once and for all. And so, in a sense, the government was capable of taking unpopular measures which were necessary.

However, the people have to be told why these measures were being introduced. The reason why certain sacrifices need to be made today must be explained, together with the benefits that will be reaped in the future.

The MLP knows that the decisions being taken by the government are needed and that, unless they are taken, the country will suffer even more in the future. If such decisions are not taken, then if the MLP is elected to power in 2008, it will find the country in a worse state than it is today. Yet, the MLP plays the political game and continues to criticise anything the government does, saying that the people are demoralised and unhappy.

Following Dr Gonzi’s confession that there could have been a lack of information, we saw little effort to reach out to the people to explain what was being done and why.

But now, a month later, the government finally has realised this, and the Prime Minister and individual ministers will soon start meeting the public at Castille to listen to their complaints and explain the reasons why some decisions need to be made.

Let us hope that, at least, this will increase the feel-good factor and show people that there is light at the end of the long, dark tunnel.