The middle weeks of August are a time for a holiday for many people.

It is also a time when most politicians take a break too after a whole year of battles in Parliament, press conferences and the normal day-to-day running of an office – be it a ministry or, for the opposition, the continuous monitoring of the government’s work.

At this time of the year, there seems to be a lull in political happenings. The government issued the pre-budget document some days ago and seems to have switched off the lights for a while, allowing the various organisations to come up with their reaction while it takes a couple of weeks of “free time” to prepare for the coming winter.

The next few months will be a time of reckoning for the government. It could possibly be the last full winter of the legislature.

Although the Nationalist government could wait until the summer of 2008 to hold an election, it is improbable that Prime Minister Gonzi is going to wait that long. It is more likely that an election will be held in early 2008, although there is also a possibility that an election will be called in late 2007.

And therefore, after the summer holidays, the government will be in full swing as it gears up for the national poll.

It has not been an easy legislature for the Nationalists. The euphoria of European Union membership – which ultimately gave it the victory in the April 2003 election – soon died down after membership became official on 1 May 2004.

If anything, there was an anti-climax in the months following membership. Many had thought that by simply being official members Malta would have changed radically. It took long to seep in that EU membership is a long-term investment, and that the effects of it would be seen over the years, and not immediately.

The country also passed through a delicate period from an economic point of view. For a time it struggled to make ends meet, and it is only recently that there have been signs of a recovery, even though this is still too meagre for it to be called a victory.

But there are serious problems that the government must tackle. And perhaps the biggest one is the people’s perception that things are not right, or at least are not as right as they are supposed to be.

With an opposition that constantly points fingers at all the deficiencies that exist and tries to portray a bleak picture of the country’s future, the Nationalists will have a hard time to convince the people that, after 20 years of government – except for a brief 22 months for Labour – they are still the better choice for the electorate.

The Nationalists will have to depict themselves as being a fresh force, but this is difficult considering that some ministers and parliamentary secretaries have not delivered the goods and that some others have been there for too long.

There has, of course, been a change of leadership since the last national election, with Dr Gonzi taking over from Dr Eddie Fenech Adami as Prime Minister and PN leader. But this has not been enough to give the party – and the government – the image it wants, particularly because some of its representatives have not been the perfect examples of good behaviour in their position.

The successive defeats in local council elections and also in the poll to elect Malta’s representatives in the European Parliament have been dismissed as not having been important.

It is true that national elections are different, but what happened at local level should have opened the PN’s eyes to the fact that people are not too happy with how the country is being administered.

It might not be too late for the PN, but it must pull its socks up quickly. A long winter is about to start, but it will soon pass and then it will be time for the election campaign.