In a matter of just over a week, the campaign trail has become a well and truly beaten path. Michael Carabott was given the opportunity to shadow Prime Minister LAWRENCE GONZI on a full day of engagements and found out exactly how tough life can be for a politician in the run-up to a general election

The day starts early. The Prime Minister bids his family goodbye for the day and steps out to his car at 7.50am. It’s a Tuesday and Lawrence Gonzi is on the campaign trail, lobbying for support in the 2008 general election.

His first appointment of the day is a meeting with the Nationalist Party’s strategy group at the PN general headquarters. Some familiar faces start walking through the door – a well-muffled Louis Galea, a far too bright and cheery (for that time of the morning, also considering the atrocious weather) Austin Gatt, Tonio Borg, George Pullicino and many others.

This was one of the few events in the day which I was not invited to attend, seeing as it was an internal party meeting. I headed out for a coffee in the meantime and about an hour later, Dr Gonzi collected his belongings from his office and beckoned me to jump on to the back seat of his car with him.

“Guess what I’m going to announce this morning,” he said with a knowing smile. “I am going to take over the running of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority if we gain another term in office,” he told me. “No harm in telling you, we’re going to announce it at this press conference,” he said.

I exchanged my thoughts on the matter with the Prime Minister and he said: “No one knows yet. But Kate (Mrs Gonzi) knew something was up, although I have not yet told her,” he said.

As I found out throughout the course of the day, the PM’s schedule is dominated by logistics and travelling. We were early and his team asked him if he wanted to stop off for a quick coffee. We did so at a St Julian’s hotel. It was a quick affair but the morning cup of coffee soon had Dr Gonzi and I brightening up and chattering away about a multitude of things. The discussion was cut short as his team told him we had to move as it was getting late. On leaving, he did something which very much characterises the man. He turned to his staff and said: “You made sure that you paid, right?”

We made our way to the first of the PM’s public engagements, a trip to Maghtab to see the progress registered in rehabilitating the site. On the way, the PM fished out his mobile and checked his emails, working as we travelled. On arrival, Dr Gonzi was asked if he minded swapping to a 4x4 truck to get up to the top of the site. It was wet, cold and muddy, yet he took it in his stride. All the way, he chatted with the engineer who was driving us there, asking questions and soaking up the answers.

The Prime Minister really does believe in this concept. “I like speaking to workers very much. I like to see what they do and I like to ask them questions about their work as they can give you a very clear indication of what is going on,” he said to me later.

After this event, Dr Gonzi was whisked away to submit his nomination for election under the PN ticket. Driving down to Valletta he said: “This is my fifth election. My first was in 1987. I have contested each one while holding a different post. I have done it as a fresh candidate, as secretary general of the PN, as speaker of the house, as deputy prime minister and now as prime minister,” he said with a chuckle. He also said that he had sat on the ‘three sides’ of the house. “I have sat on the opposition bench, the government bench and also in the speaker’s chair,” he said.

I gave the PM plenty of space to move and my only instruction by his staff was to make sure I kept up with the flow of getting to and from the cars. However, he always made sure I was not left behind, turning and asking on more than one occasion, “Where’s Michael?”

At Evans Building, he met opposition candidate George Vella where he stopped for a chat. After submitting his nomination, Dr Gonzi had another engagement, this time to meet workers of Lufthansa Teknik. On the way he asked me if I normally took a break to go home at lunchtime and somehow the conversation turned to our mothers. He decided he would call her there and then, laughing and joking with her. “You just made her day,” I said when he put the phone down. “One’s mother is important,” he said with a smile. He also told me that Mrs Gonzi was important not only as his wife, but also as a political sounding board. “She always knows what the people are thinking and feeling and that really helps me,” he said.

At the site, he spoke to as many employees as he could, asking them about their specific tasks and what they were doing. By this time it was after 1pm and we were all flagging. Dr Gonzi takes a quick one-hour break at about this time to recharge his batteries, and as the day wore on, I saw why.

We chatted casually on the way back to Castille. I asked the Prime Minister if he had been keeping up with his football. “I wish!” was the reply. However, he divulged that he had been on a trip to Gozo recently and somehow a two-hour free slot came up. “I stayed in my room for a couple of hours and watched a Chelsea game and I really enjoyed it, it was a great match and I really chilled out,” he said.

His memory is phenomenal. I said that the time I had seen him enjoy himself the most was when the press were taken on a walkabout at the Xaghra l-Hamra park. He recalled my question to him word for word. “You had not asked me anything political that day. I remember you just asked what the afternoon meant to me and I had really enjoyed it. I was off to Portugal for an EU meeting later that same afternoon,” he said. He also recalled a photo of the event published in this newspaper which he really liked. We also spoke about animals and how they help people. “I’ll never forget the shot on a documentary where I was reading through the budget speech at home. It was at the animal welfare section and our cat came into view looking over my shoulder at the screen. You can’t plan things like that,” he said.

I left Dr Gonzi at Castille to get some rest and we met again at half past three. We were off to Zabbar for some house visits before the evening discussion event in Zejtun. The Prime Minister is a people magnet. He oozes charm, wit and charisma, having enough of a word here and there, a touch on the arm and an uncanny ability to remember people’s names. “Some of you I spoke to when I first campaigned in 1987. We have moved forward since then,” he said.

Children love Dr Gonzi and the same certainly seems true for him. Mrs Gonzi also made an appearance and chatted with everyone with warmth. In today’s world, it’s a novelty to see a close family and Mr and Mrs Gonzi certainly are. They chatted away in the back seat as we drove to Zabbar and included everyone in their conversation.

Once the house visits were over, the pace really picked up as we headed to Zejtun for the PN’s evening discussion meeting. I asked whether he ever imagined holding a meeting in Zejtun 20 years ago. “Those were different times, very different times. Yes, fortunately things have changed from then,” he said.

Everyone around the PM was flagging by this time, myself included. But the energy of the man is limitless. He rushed off for another meeting in Naxxar, after which we all returned to the PN general HQ for his next appointment. By this time it was about 10pm and the PM still had to answer the multitude of questions posted on the forum of his election campaign website. It was really nice to see that he is helped in this enterprise by his two sons, Michael and David. The PM is fairly good with computers, but it was truly refreshing to see him in a very human capacity with his sons helping him manoeuvre round the system to answer posts. If one had simply walked in, you would have thought it could have been any other Maltese dad getting some IT help from his two boys.

Completely unfazed by the camera flashes, Dr Gonzi carried on answering posts. At 10.30pm I decided to call it a day. I thanked the Prime Minister for the opportunity to shadow him all day and he reciprocated. The campaign schedule is punishing, tiring and draining, yet through it all, the stoic PM kept his energy levels up and was bright and cheery throughout. His secret? “Good food, seven-hours sleep a day, some time with the family and four or five pages of light reading before bed,” he revealed.