The public discussion exercise the government started last week in a bid to feel the pulse of the people is an important step in the right direction.

Political parties have for quite some time held public discussions, in particular on Sunday mornings. There are more such occasions each time a local council election is about to be held and, once every five years, in the month preceding the general election.

But these often turn out to be monologues by politicians, especially the leaders of the two major parties, with public participation restricted to a few questions or praises from diehard supporters, who contribute little except to state the obvious.

Since winning the referendum on European Union membership and subsequently the general election in 2003, the Nationalist Party has lost three elections – two at local council level and one to elect Malta’s five representatives in the European Parliament.

It has been said several times that, apart from the unpopular decisions taken by the government that have enabled the Malta Labour Party to take the upper hand in the past 12 months or so, one other aspect which contributed to the PN’s three consecutive defeats is the party’s lack of contact with the people.

It was, therefore, felt that the government should hear more of what the people have to say.

The public discussion held at Castille last week – the first in a series of fortnightly events – had its significance for two reasons.

The first was the venue itself. This is because, rather than meeting the people in a Nationalist Party club and giving the discussion an obvious partisan tinge, the event was held in the Prime Minister’s own offices. He opened his doors to everyone who wanted to have a say.

The second important factor was that, for once, a good chunk of the discussion was not taken up by the politician himself. Instead, the public was given ample time in which to bring forward their complaints and suggestions, while the politician listened and, towards the end, gave a brief address, in part to answer some of the matters which were brought up.

In this way, the people who spoke during the event felt that, for once, they had the chance to talk rather than being talked to. They had a chance to air their views rather than listen to a politician express himself.

It is often the case that parties in government tend to lose elections not only because of decisions taken while in office but also because they lose touch with the people. This is mostly because it is hard to do two things at the same time – govern the country and see to the party’s day to day administration.

Having a Prime Minister who, not only finds the time to meet his party supporters on a Sunday morning as party leader – although, it must be said, that this does not happen as regularly as it does within the MLP because of other commitments – but also fits in a couple of hours in his capacity of Prime Minister to hear what the people have to say, is a feather in Dr Lawrence Gonzi’s cap.

Still, such public discussions would be useless if what the people are saying fall on deaf ears. It would just be a propaganda exercise if what was said last Wednesday and what will be said in similar meetings in the next weeks does not lead to changes.

Of course, one cannot expect that action is taken on any triviality that is brought up during such meetings. But, on the other hand, Dr Gonzi as Prime Minister cannot ignore the people’s thoughts and suggestions.

He must show the willingness to act on proposals made, when these are valid enough to be taken into consideration.

Listening to what the people have to say is a good idea. But it would be a better idea if the good suggestions are given consideration and, where possible, are implemented.