It is a fact that the last few elections were decided by the so-called floating voters, people who have no strict political allegiances and who therefore shift from one party to another depending on the circumstances.

Both the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party have a good core of supporters that will never vote for the other party. Some, in fact, prefer not to vote at all. But there is a growing number of people who decide who to vote for after analysing what the political parties have to offer. Then they choose the one that suits their interests the most.

This number of voters has been on the increase for quite a while, and this is because the younger generations are more liberal in their thoughts, and do not vote for Party A just because their parents have been doing do for decades. It is therefore apparent that this number of floating voters will be even bigger in five years’ time when the people will be asked, once again, to elect a government.

In the last campaign, the PN and the MLP gave too little attention to the floating voters, preferring to concentrate more on the diehards. This could be seen plainly from the way their respective media covered the political activities long before the campaign started, but especially during those five weeks that preceded the election.

Observers have commented that the PN won the election because the MLP was still perceived to be a weaker alternative government, and therefore the floating voters, and in particular the young people who were voting for the first time, preferred a party that has given them opportunities – such as an expanded University and membership in the European Union.

With hindsight, it can be said that while both the PN and Labour have retained their core level of support, the floating voters either did not exercise their right to vote or else voted PN again – and this is what led to the minimal victory for the PN on 8 March.

And this is also why there are a number of critics who, on the eve of the contest for the MLP leadership, are saying that the right candidate is the one who would be more appealing to the floating voters – as it is only in this way that the MLP can really change and be in a position to beat the PN.

But it is not only the MLP that needs to change the way it projects itself. Even the PN must continue to renew itself in the coming five years. With support for the smaller parties more or less remaining the same over successive elections and unlikely to change in the next five years, the election will again be won by the party that manages to portray itself better in the eyes of the neutral electorate.

Although the next election is still far away, both parties need to start planning their strategies as from now. And both will need to concentrate on the floating voters, not the people who will vote for the party anyway. It is these floating voters that will be making a difference some time in 2013.

The PN must work to conserve the appeal that it had with such voters – an appeal that was sharply cut down between 2003 and 2008. For its part, the MLP must work hard to win the confidence of such people.

Of course, the circumstances of the coming election will be atypical, in the sense that we will have one party which would have been in government/opposition for 24 out of 26 years. That will be an unprecedented situation for both the PN and the MLP.

But both need to set the ball rolling now. It is now that the basis will be set for a possible victory.