Stiff upper lip. Everything is still the same. All get back to work. When the policies deliver, the people will change their mind.

Following the government’s heavy defeat last weekend, all the noises one heard have been as related above. At first, on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, some low-level party official was heard saying that the people have spoken and the party has listened to it, but even this very democratic sentiment was soon forgotten.

It goes without saying that constitutionally and legally the Nationalist Party is still in power and will remain so until the end of the legislature. Whether this is politically or democratically wise is another thing. Chancellor Schroeder, not a good role model perhaps, decided to go to the country after one State defeat, whereas here we had fully one third of the electorate following the other two thirds in rejecting the government.

At the very least, Prime Minister Gonzi should go back to his own party and tell it that when it elected him he (and so did the party) thought he would lead it to victory. But there have been four election defeats and no victory at all so far, so it must ponder what should be done, unless it wants to hand over the country to 10 years of Alfred Sant’s administration and itself to 10 years of exile.

Dr Gonzi, being no fool, probably regrets not making any Cabinet changes when he succeeded Dr Fenech Adami. His weakness was evident then, but even more so today, especially since many ministers have cannily undertaken such long term plans that will comfortably carry them until the eve of the next election as to make them irreplaceable. He is weak too if he refuses to countenance a reshuffle because through it he will have to bring in back his old contender.

It is specious for the party to argue that the people who did not vote will all flock to vote for the party come the general election, and that the people will not vote for Dr Sant anyway. Does this mean we face a solid two years of more demonising of Dr Sant?

It is equally specious to argue that the policies are right but they have not yet percolated to the people. This is a canard just like last year’s (and the previous one’s) that “the people do not understand because we have not explained things properly to them”. Two years of “explanations” and the people still reject the government in power. It takes more than words to instil a feel-good factor in the economy. Nor will simply waiting for the many things coming on stream, beginning with the new hospital, change the public’s perception of a government at loggerheads with itself, not knowing where it is heading, and without a clear vision for the country.

At this point, in spite of what the government sees in the mirror, the country is asking for a sea change in the government. Yes, it is asking for a change of faces: for far too long people have seen the same faces everywhere, three times a day at least, and not always in the best circumstances. Have these people never heard of media fatigue, they who so insist on multiple media coverage day in, day out?

It is asking for a change of policies, or rather policies that do not ride roughshod over people, economic policies that do not squeeze people out of their very last cent. It is good that the deficit is now under control but a government is not re-elected by the EU or ECB experts who stand and applaud, but by the citizens who put their hands in their pockets, which are getting emptier by the hour.

It is asking for a change in attitude: over the past weeks, and especially last week, Dr Gonzi has taken an attitude based on the arrogance of the righteous: my policies are right, it is you who are not understanding them; my policies are right but they have not delivered yet. No, not all policies have been right and anyway there is still a vast difference between the government’s intentions and the way action ends up being taken.

It is asking for a more liberal, less denominational, not to say fundamentalist, government. There is a constituency out there, made up mostly of PN supporters, who repeatedly see their basic aspirations trampled on by the party they were devoted to.

And it is asking for a government with a vision, whereas this government has a hotchpotch of unfulfilled visions according to which minister one is speaking to. Now that he has had two years in office, and must realise he did not do as well as he wanted to, Dr Gonzi must learn from his mistakes and organise his plans and his proposals into one coherent whole. The past two years have been a free-for-all where each minister got to act out his fantasies, sometimes with disastrous results and with no coordination to speak of. He set out to do everything at once and look where that got him.

Of course, the government will do nothing of the sort. It will simply soldier on, beat the same drum, push the same policies, run as far away from admitting it has been wrong as is possible, and expect the results to follow that in two years’ time a grateful electorate will rush to vote it back to power. The writing is on the wall, if one cares to see it, but this government prefers to sit in the Titanic saloon, or waltz the time away, while the ship is still heading somewhere.