The first few days of the election campaign have shown that the two major political parties have adopted a very different strategy. And this has happened not only in the way they are portraying themselves to the people, but also in what they are saying and the proposals they are putting forward.

The Nationalist Party has chosen to push Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, and only Dr Gonzi. They are relying on the fact that although the Nationalist Party has been in government for two consecutive terms, they are being led by a new man who has built on the success of his predecessor but at the same time has taken decisions which have transformed the country.

On the other hand, the Malta Labour Party is projecting itself as the party that has the better ideas. Although leader Alfred Sant is still the focal point of their campaign, Labour are refusing to accept the run-up towards the election as a presidential-type of race, and both deputy leaders as well as the party general secretary are getting their own space on the podium.

One other difference that confirms the above is that while during the first few days of the campaign, the PN billboards showed photos of Dr Gonzi with various groups of people, the MLP billboards do not contain any photos of Dr Sant. The MLP has interpreted the PN campaign as one that is trying to “hide” the Cabinet ministers; taking the same argument, is the MLP trying to “hide” its leader?

But, apart from the cosmetics of the campaign, what should be noticed is what is being said by the two parties in these early days.

And here the difference is evident too. While Dr Gonzi speaks of the future and how a PN government intends to take Malta to new heights through strong economic policies, Dr Sant looks at the past and speaks of government deficiencies and corruption. While Dr Gonzi is coming up with fresh proposals and incentives to continue building on what has been achieved so far, Dr Sant wants to re-open negotiations on Malta’s package with the European Union. While Dr Gonzi speaks of the past four years as years of achievement – EU membership and eurozone, for example – with a view to an even brighter future, Dr Sant speaks of the last legislature as a total failure but then says little about the MLP’s intentions if elected to government.

A party that has been in opposition for so long should have had the time to reason things out and come up with concrete suggestions that would give the country a new impetus. But the Labour Party, at least so far in the election campaign, is preferring to attack the Nationalist Party for its wrongdoings instead of saying what and how it will be running the country, if given the chance. It seems to want to win the election because of the other party’s difficulties, rather than because of its own merits.

Yes, of course, Labour gains political mileage when it exposes the government’s inefficiencies and even speaks of cases of corruption.

But at the same time the people would like to know more what the MLP is proposing. So far, the proposals that have been made – the EU question and the extra year of schooling – have shown that the MLP wants to go back in time and wants to add extra burdens on the government and on families.

The Nationalist government has made its mistakes and the Prime Minister is the first to acknowledge this. But looking at the whole picture it must be admitted that the country has made great strides forward, and not only because it has joined the European Union, something which the Labour Party was so adamantly against and which, based on what is being said, the MLP has not accepted in full.