With a few months to go before the general election is held, the question that is on everyone’s lips is whether the Nationalist Party will win a third successive term in office, which would be the first electoral victory for leader Lawrence Gonzi, or whether it is the Malta Labour Party’s turn to govern, with Alfred Sant getting a second chance after his two-year tumultuous stint as prime minister.

There are many considerations that need to be made by the people before they cast their vote. Naturally, there are many who will be voting PN or MLP no matter what, and therefore the outcome of the election will be determined by a few thousand people who are normally referred to as floating voters.

What is this group of people – which seems to grow bigger from one election to another – going to do? Will they keep the Nationalists in power because the road that the country has embarked upon is one that is steady, reliable and has brought prosperity? Or will they opt for a change even though they are still to be convinced that the Malta Labour Party is a valid alternative government? A third option would be not to vote at all, and this would ultimately be a vote for Labour too as the number of hardcore supporters within the MLP is deemed to be bigger.

Labour is insisting that the country needs a change after nearly 20 years of PN government. The MLP keeps pushing the idea that the government is tired, that ministers have grown too complacent and that it (the MLP) can offer fresh ideas, building on what is good and correcting what is wrong.

On the other hand, the PN is reiterating that Dr Sant has already failed once as prime minister, and therefore should not be given the second chance he claims he deserves. The PN says that Dr Gonzi has managed to bring in a new style of government in spite of retaining the same ministers, and now should be given the opportunity to move on, perhaps with a new team.

But, rather than faces, the people should be looking at other matters before finally deciding who they will be trusting. They should take an interest in what the two parties are proposing, their vision for the future, and how they plan to make the country a better place to live in.

The Nationalist Party may have been in government for a long time, but it still knows where it is going and where it wants to go. Yes, some

ministers have not lived up to the expectations, but there are others who have excelled. Yes, some things have gone wrong too but the country has made great strides forward in other areas. As such, people should look at what the government has done as a whole and not at the faults of individuals to make its assessment of the PN’s overall performance.

For its part, the Malta Labour Party has been in opposition for nearly two full decades but there are still question marks as to whether it has managed to renew itself enough to be given the country’s leadership once again. On an individual basis, it has lost some key players too; people who were seen to have given credibility to the party. The MLP also seems to be too intent on criticising the government – which it should do, by all means, but it should speak up more about its plans for the country’s future. Malta is not only the regeneration of the Grand Harbour area.

This is what the people will be looking at when the time comes to cast their vote. But, until the time comes, many other matters will change. A day is a long time in politics, let alone weeks and possibly months.