There are various ways in which election results could be interpreted, and one of them is the people’s decision whom to elect and whom to leave at home.

All through the election campaign, Nationalist Party leader Lawrence Gonzi repeatedly spoke about his intention to bring in fresh blood in his new Cabinet, should he be elected to lead the country once again.

The Nationalist Party won the election, giving Dr Gonzi a vote of confidence in the way he led the country during the past four years. But the same cannot be said for the number of ministers and parliamentary secretaries who either did not make it to Parliament, did so just because the PN obtained fewer seats than the MLP and needed extra ones to have a majority in the House, or simply struggled to make it there anyway.

In all, four ministers out of a total of 12 were not re-elected, although former Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech made it through by being one of the four to be given a seat to make up for the PN’s parliamentary deficit. Another four parliamentary secretaries also failed, but again two of them will be joining the government side for the same reasons – Edwin Vassallo and Frans Agius.

In a way, it must be said that the people responded to Dr Gonzi’s call to elect a PN government but with a fresh look. The people weeded out who, they thought, did not deserve to be re-elected and opened the way for new people in Parliament. This is, perhaps, one of the positive aspects of our electoral system – that the people not only vote for the party they support, but they can actually choose who they would like to represent them in Parliament.

Not all those who were not elected by the people deserved such a result, and not all those who were elected deserved the people’s support. Some were at a disadvantage because of the way the electoral districts were formed; others had the advantage of having a strong core of personal supporters that ensured election in spite of a poor performance in the last legislature.

But, in the end, the people’s judgment must be respected, and the likes of experienced politicians like former ministers Louis Galea, Michael Frendo and Censu Galea, not to mention former parliamentary secretaries Helen D’Amato and Tony Abela, have found themselves out of Parliament.

Even the Malta Labour Party experienced the same scenario, with seasoned politicians like Joe Debono Grech and Joe Brincat also not making it to the House. Yet, the biggest surprise was the elimination of Gavin Gulia, and to a lesser extent those of Joseph Cuschieri and Joseph Sammut.

Some might still make it through casual elections, but they must all be feeling disappointed that the electorate pushed them aside.

Politicians – those who have been elected and aspiring ones – should take what has happened as a lesson. The people have matured and are able to judge. Dr Gonzi has repeatedly asked the people to judge him by his actions, and they have extended this line of thinking not only in their selection of a government, but also in their choice of politicians to represent them in Parliament.

Things seem to be changing. People no longer vote for a candidate just because their parents do so or because they themselves have been doing so for two or three elections in a row. Generally speaking – because there are, of course, exceptions through reasons not related to performance – they are learning to differentiate between politicians who deliver and those who don’t.

And therefore all politicians must work hard to live up to the people’s expectations. As in anything else, politicians should no longer take their constituents’ loyalty for granted.