Today is the last day of the election campaign, and all political parties will be making their final efforts to try to convince the people that they are the best choice for the country.

Tomorrow is the day of silence, or day of reflection, during which no campaigning can be made before the people go to the polls on Saturday.

It has been an intensive campaign, from whichever way one looks at it. In terms of activities, all political parties contesting the election have tried to reach out in every nook and cranny of Malta and Gozo, meeting as many people as possible, and holding events aimed at putting across their message.

The Nationalist Party built its campaign on the success story of Malta’s membership in the European Union, especially the economic results achieved over the past two years, which enabled the country to join the eurozone.

The tough decisions that were taken at the start of this legislature bore fruit as the five-year term drew closer to an end, and the party in government can present itself to the people on the solid basis of two tax-free budgets.

The PN has also presented the people with a long list of proposals it aims to implement if it is given a third consecutive term in government. Its vision for the next few years is based on six columns – health, education, ICT, financial services, tourism and the industrial sector – and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has used most of his time over the past five weeks to go into detail on each and every aspect.

For its part, the Malta Labour Party focused mostly on its claims of corruption in government circles, claims that have led to several libel cases being presented in court. It has concentrated on what it has described as bad governance, shedding light on projects that took much longer than previously established to complete and that cost much more than the original estimates.

The MLP also based its campaign on the change factor – it has repeatedly said that the Nationalist Party has been in government for nearly two full decades, and that now it should be given the chance to rule the country again because it has the fresher ideas.

It has promised to halve the fuel surcharge for households in the first week after winning the election, and said it will introduce a reception class in between the kindergarten and primary school years and will be the “enemy of corruption”, in the words of leader Alfred Sant.

The two smaller parties, Alternattiva Demokratika and Azzjoni Nazzjonali, have both worked to wrest away voters from the two major parties. AD have kept insisting on the formation of a coalition government which, it says, would bring in a new impetus in Parliament, while AN have focused on wide-ranging issues including immigration and family policy.

Whether their strategy will succeed is a big question mark, especially with the PN making it very clear in their campaign that a vote for AD and AN, or a decision not to vote at all, will in effect be a vote for the Malta Labour Party.

This election, like any other election, will be decided by the “undecided voters”, who must have by now made up their mind whom to vote for after listening to what the parties have to offer. More or less, the two major political parties have a core of supporters who will vote PN or MLP anyway, and it is therefore the people who swing from one party to another, depending on the circumstances, who will determine the outcome.

When the results of the election are made known on Sunday, we will know which of the parties has been the more convincing.