In your leader Talk about change (TMID, 23 February) you highlighted several points that are worth commenting about.

For one thing, I do agree with you that the two major political parties have not realised that the number of so-called floating voters has increased. The results of a survey by television programme Xarabank should open their eyes to this.

Secondly, I also agree that it is rather ironic that the Malta Labour Party, which has been in opposition for nearly 20 years, will be facing the electorate with a leader who has lost two national elections in a row, not to mention the referendum for European Union membership.

Considering that the Nationalist Party will go to the polls with Dr Lawrence Gonzi as party leader for the first time, this could be an advantage for the party currently in government.

However, Dr Gonzi has made the mistake of not giving a fresh look to the party in general, keeping ministers in their place even when they did not live up to expectations, and not promoting other people – such as parliamentary secretary Tonio Fenech – to the role of minister. This could be an advantage for the Malta Labour Party.

The coming election will be a hard-fought battle between what is old and what is new. The problem is that the old and the new can be found on both sides of the fence.

David Camilleri

Mosta