Future successes for the MLP depends solely on a truly ‘New beginning’ which is more than skin deep. Alfred Sant has tendered his resignation and I join with many who sincerely wish him a happy retirement. However if the MLP think that Dr Sant’s resignation is the cure-all and all will be well with their party, they are grossly mistaken. In fact it is one of the reasons why the MLP lost this last election. The malaise the MLP suffers from is more than superficial.

Many, from the upper echelons of the MLP, should take Dr Sant’s lead and do their party a favour and withdraw from the party’s decision making process. Obviously, the country did not denounce Dr Sant, per se, but the policies which he and his party decided to embrace in the last decades. Let the young fresh blood in, let it decide to unglue itself from the extreme left and renounce policies which are outdated and impractical.

The ideal leader should be one who understands that circumstances change with time and what worked 30 years ago may no longer be on the radar screen, let alone applicable. Understanding the grassroots is an art and keeping aloof is certainly not the way to go.

If one had to think about it, had the youth of today been indifferent and not considered voting, and the assumption is, of course, that their majority supported the PN, then the MLP would have won. It is not that had the MLP won, it would have been a bad thing - far from it, but it is the policies they promised that scared the living hell out of those who truly believed that the best thing that ever happened was to join the European Union.

Dr Sant threatened the stability and the material benefits which everyone could see and feel. He threatened the very young with his proposal of a year’s extension of their kinder classes. He threatened the economy by proposing to cut the surcharge in half. He threatened the workers by hinting at cutting overtime pay to flat rates. He jeopardised the EUR 855 million grant from the EU. And even worse, he threatened to make a fool out of our country had he followed with what he had promised, the reopening of the accession treaty with the EU. This, after the very top officials and a dozen or so MEPs had described his idea anywhere from a fantasy to a bad joke. Even after the thorough explanation of his miscalculation of the ‘reception class’ Dr Sant decided to dig in and in the face of clear adverse evidence, continue to insist that it was the way to go.

Calling the Nationalists ‘those who have something wrong with their DNA’ was a bad idea, which I am sure that Dr Charles Mangion will regret for many years to come. However what was said was said, recorded, undeniable and unforgettable, and certainly it will be remembered by the PN for many future elections. Calling the students ‘hamalli, injoranti, baxxi, etc. etc.’ and likewise the women who brought them up were other vindictive remarks. Hence my observation that a renewed MLP has to take care of elements deeper than its leader.

The ‘other’ parties had the starch knocked out of them and the electorate clearly demonstrated how weak, and in some cases how reprehensible, their policies are. The AD and the AN both went out of their way to steal votes from the PN and they did, however thankfully in small enough numbers which did not deny the PN victory and not sufficient enough to have either represented in Parliament and hold the government hostage. Their future seems more uncertain than ever, both having burned too many bridges which they needed to cross in order to be representatives of larger constituencies.

The modern electorate expects more and expects better and so do the MLP supporters.

Joe Martinelli

London, Ontario

Canada