In normal circumstances, this would be the time for Members of Parliament to look forward to their summer holidays. This time round, however, there will no rest for the weary.

The Maltese political air already begins to reek with the smell of election gunpowder, as the first shots of the general election campaign have been fired.

The government’s “strategists” know there are two difficult hurdles to the tackled on the way. On the one hand, the economy has been in poor shape and anaemic. On the other, the Gonzi administration is committed to abide by a “Convergence Programme” of its own specifications in order to smooth the passage to sustainable EU viability. The latter involves austerity.

Two hurdles

The two hurdles are not complementary. Imposing more austerity on an economy during the run-in to a general election is bound to raise the hackles of the electorate.

The Gonzi administration had to go into high gear to pass the EU “examination” and there is no turning back without loss of face.

By pressing on regardless, Dr Gonzi now has to take the electorate head-on, and there is little leeway for sugaring the pill by reducing the dose of medicine prescribed by the convergence programme.

The convergence programme may have helped Dr Gonzi to win his pass-mark in Brussels, but it did little to fertilise the pre-election soil. The electorate has been bruised by taxes and austerity and many sheep have deserted the Nationalist Party flock.

Going into high gear

None of this has deterred Gonzi and his strategists. They are banking on the examination results announced by Brussels, and have one or two trump cards to deal as the election campaign gathers momentum. The next budget may offer potential – more than the recent, stage-managed general council meeting, which turned out to be a damp squib. The supreme PN objective is to open up and reach out for the support of its lost sheep.

The Malta Labour Party has, on its part, drawn up or updated its policy documents in the course of wide consultation and discussion. These documents will give substance to the new hands-on, positive approach advocated by Alfred Sant.

Without going into the merits of these documents, they are shorn of the dogma and ideology of former years. Well aware that the old generation of “soldiers of steel” is being rapidly decimated as the years roll on, the MLP is making a bid to woo the young generation.

In its turn, Alternattiva Demokratika, which made a slight but visible dent at the euro election, has concentrated, practically throughout its existence, on environmental issues, and on stratagems designed to attract the support of dissidents disenchanted by the establishment.

Fascinating scenario

The contemporary political scenario is fascinating because, while a sizable chunk of the Maltese electorate has been weaned from the polarisation of past years, political partisanship seems to be the common currency of the broadcasting media and of some of the leading political players in the field.

Pluralism in broadcasting may have broken down barriers and given a voice to interested citizens, with dissidents often taking the initiative, if not the upper hand, in talk shows and fora where political and even religious issues are discussed.

The candidates of the rival political parties conduct home visits and meet electors holding different views for face-to-face discussions.

Very many citizens have tested the political waters by standing for local government office, and will contest the next national election.

Perhaps these and related developments have helped to persuade a good many MPs to compete in a bid to capture the middle ground. But, although the parties represented in Parliament have, on occasion, found it possible to work together in areas where the sober electorate expects results in the national interest, confrontation at leadership and subordinate levels remains the order of the day.

The eyeball-to-eyeball syndrome reigns supreme.

When Dr Gonzi was parachuted into the Office of Prime Minister (and PN leader) three years ago, he had a singular opportunity to break the mould, first by imposing his personal imprint by reconstituting the government apparatus, and then by building bridges with the Labour opposition.

Eyeball-to-eyeball syndrome

He opted against change, lost no time in elevating his predecessor to the Presidency, and promptly proceeded to lead both the infantry and the cavalry of the PN, as well as the government, against the Labour opposition.

In a sense, Dr Gonzi was a prisoner of circumstances. As the new PN leader, he wanted to appear before the electorate and the party faithful as a new broom, capable of clearing up a messy situation. But the mess was of the PN’s own making, it having been in office for many years, during the latter part of which, Dr Gonzi was Deputy Prime Minister and deputy PN leader.

Alfred Sant, already demonised to saturation point, could hardly have been made a scapegoat for the PN’s shortcomings. The most the PN could do was to attribute today’s malaise to the imperatives of EU membership.

Governments take credit for the good things. Those that are unpopular, they attribute to their adversaries.

Time will soon tell whether or not the electorate will be persuaded to buy this twist.

Role of young generation

Common sense, as well as electoral pain, will militate against the PN propaganda machine. But the young vote will probably be even more decisive in tilting the electoral scale.

Today’s young generation is not prepared to be led by the nose. It is inquisitive. It insists on being persuaded. It is getting used to seeking the truth by first sifting the facts. It is disposed to be rebellious if it feels hard done by.

The young element has to be wooed and somehow activated, not by regimentation and by resorting to old methods. Novel approaches are called for that will rely on reason and gentle persuasion, on new forms of participation, on the appeal of solidarity and co-partnership, on communitarian initiative that is distinct from collectivism, on the environment and its protection.

What is sure is that, at the next election, the respective political parties cannot afford to zigzag and play ducks and drakes with the basic values that distinguish them from their competitors.

Hence, the tightrope walk on such issues as the economy and the mess it has been reduced to, Malta’s positioning in world affairs, and the inevitable side-issues such as divorce and censorship, hunting and fundamental human rights and so on, will cut no ice.

Those who stand firm on the bed-rock of principles, values and common sense are likely to make an impact as well as headway.

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