The Nationalist Party has made a careful decision in the way it is presenting itself to the people in the run-up to the 8 March general election.

It was to be expected that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi would have been the focal point of its campaign. What was not so expected is that the ministers forming part of his cabinet have been given the side.

It is clear on the billboards the Nationalist Party has put up, with Dr Gonzi photographed with different groups of people beneath the slogan “yes, together everything is possible”. It is clear in the meetings that the party has held with constituted bodies, with Dr Gonzi sitting in between candidates who are contesting on behalf of the party for the first time as he discussed important issues with the organisations in front of him. It is clear during the party public activities that have been held so far, with Dr Gonzi sometimes flanked by the party general secretary, but most of the time on his own, as ministers mingle with the people, keeping a low profile and not taking part in the discussion.

What also stands out is that the party chose to put the Prime Minister’s name as part of its slogan too – “gonzipn”, linking party and leader altogether in one word. Such a choice makes the PN electoral campaign very similar to an American type of race for election.

All this was immediately picked up by the Malta Labour Party and its media, who have for long been insisting that the PN “wants to hide” its ministers because of their failures while pushing the figure of the Prime Minister. MLP leader Alfred Sant himself hinted at this, saying that while the MLP wanted to show itself as a united team, the PN was concentrating all its efforts on a “one-man show”.

All in all, the strategy the PN has adopted makes sense. It is a card that they are playing to pass on the message that, although the party has been in government for a very long time, it is being led by a man who has taken over the leadership only four years ago.

And this is also why Cabinet ministers are not being placed on the centre-stage along with Dr Gonzi. All of them are contesting the election, but the PN is pushing the new candidates to show that it has new “faces” that could take the place of the “older” men and women who have been on the front benches for a long time, some say far too long.

The Prime Minister himself was very clear when asked about this. “(The public) will choose their government. I will not guarantee anyone’s place. There is room for new blood and new faces,” he said in reply to a question on the first day of the election campaign.

What Dr Gonzi meant was that, if the Nationalist Party is re-elected, he intends to bring in new people as part of his Cabinet, obviously based on the results achieved. There are ministers and parliamentary secretaries who have performed excellently, and these will be rewarded and retained. There are others who have not lived up to the expectations, committed grave mistakes or failed.

Yet, what Dr Gonzi – and the PN – is saying is that, collectively speaking, the government has performed well, most of what was promised has been delivered and the PN deserves to be re-elected.

Some may accuse Dr Gonzi of not having reshuffled his Cabinet one or two years after replacing Dr Eddie Fenech Adami as Prime Minister. But that is now part of history.

What the PN is saying now is that under Dr Gonzi, the country has moved forward, is benefiting from the decisions that were taken in these last four years and should continue on the same road that was embarked upon four years ago.