Alfred Sant must have regretted his decision not to take part in last Friday’s edition of Xarabank, although he will never say so.

As this newspaper predicted last Thursday, commenting on the Labour leader’s rejection of Peppi Azzopardi’s invitation, the two-hour plus programme turned out to be a good promotional campaign for the government. Had Dr Sant been there, one hour would have been his.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi made the most of the air-time he was allotted. Obviously, the fact that he was the only guest left him in a more comfortable position, and he could therefore explain, in great detail, what the government has achieved, what it is doing now and what it plans for the future.

This he could do without any interruptions. There was no Dr Sant to challenge his figures. There was no hostile audience to deal with. If anything, the members of the public were mostly people who showed Nationalist leanings in the way they asked the questions and praised the government for its work.

Even Peppi Azzopardi seemed more subdued than he usually is, although, it must be said, that his questions were hard-hitting and well thought out. The journalists who were invited to field questions, tried their best to put the Prime Minister in a corner, but he managed to emerge from it without much difficulty every time.

Except for the question about divorce – on which Dr Gonzi did not commit himself, but turned the subject around to say what the government is doing to help cohabiting couples, and to protect individuals who find themselves abandoned by their partners – and the question as to when the Manwel Dimech bridge will be completed – again, Dr Gonzi used the question to give a list of projects carried out by the government, but did not commit himself – Dr Gonzi had a field day.

He was always ready with his answers, and showed that he was well-prepared for all that was thrown at him. For example, the way he tackled the question on the cost of living – proving that the prices of products during Dr Sant’s 22-month premiership had risen more than they had done in the past nine years – showed that Labour’s campaign could backfire, particularly if the PN continues to insist on figures such as those provided by Dr Gonzi last Friday.

Few were the minutes dedicated to Labour’s view – and these took the form of clips taken from a press conference given by Alfred Sant that same week. We here question whether once Dr Sant refused to take part in the programme, such clips should have been shown, but, on the other hand, the producers must have decided that they were needed to add some spice.

These clips, however, were not enough to give Labour the exposure that would have been theirs if Dr Sant had accepted Xarabank’s invitation.

Dr Sant – and Labour – must have thought that their refusal would have led to the programme not being held. But they should have learnt their lesson by now. When Labour health spokesman Michael Farrugia turned down an invitation to take part in Bondiplus, the programme still went ahead without Labour’s presence. Last Friday, Xarabank still went ahead, again without Labour.

So it is Labour that is losing the most when they refuse such invitations. No doubt they have their reasons for not turning up for these programmes, but by doing so they are committing political

suicide.

This is because they are giving the people the impression that they are weak and, equally important, they are allowing the Nationalists more air-time – during which they can say whatever they like.

Labour cannot afford to do this if they want to win the election.