It is almost a year since the Nationalist Party won the election and, although we are more or less still four years away from the next one, the two major political parties seem to be already embroiled in heated debates, which are sometimes more destructive than constructive.

It could be that the two parties are already gearing up for the European Parliament election, due to be held in June. The Labour Party has already officially announced its candidates, and already seems in full electoral campaign in a bid to try to repeat the 3-2 victory it registered in 2004.

That we still do not know whether we will be voting for five or six candidates – considering that Malta, in theory, can have six MEPs if an Irish referendum approves the Lisbon Treaty later on this year – is not something that is helping to have cooler heads. The Malta Independent once again calls for a decision to be taken before the vote is taken, and preferably now, or at least not too close to the June polls.

But there is more than just the EP election that is currently leading the two parties to lock horns.

The way the St John’s Co-Cathedral saga developed did not bring the two sides closer, and while Labour is right to claim that it was in the forefront to push the government to change its mind on the project, the Nationalists took the opportunity of the PL’s motion on St John’s to try to turn the tables in its favour through the tabling of another motion to change parliamentary procedures.

This practically brought to an end all the discussions that the two parties were having in private, ever since early last summer the two leaders each came up with a set of proposals on how Parliament could work better.

With the Nationalists insisting that Labour is hampering their work and Malta’s commitments in the European Union and Labour saying that the PN could forget parliamentary pairing, the conflict between the two sides has reached high levels and it does not look likely that there will be any calming down any time soon.

The two sides are also very keen, perhaps too keen, on replying tit-for-tat each time a leading exponent says something. The media has been receiving statements and counter-statements that sometimes verge on the farcical.

It’s as if Labour is trying to find each and every chance to criticise the government and, although in some instances its criticism is justified, in others it is not. On the other hand, the government and the PN are always at the ready to reply to such statements, when often it would probably be better to just let them go.

Sundays have become famous for political conferences – they are being called by different names these days, but they can still be likened to Sunday morning sermons. Once the leaders have made their speeches, it often happens that the other side issues a statement in reply; and there have also been occasions when counter-replies are issued to these statements. Rather childish, no?

The PN has also accused the Labour Party of wanting to govern from the opposition, saying that the PL somehow seems to think that the fact that it lost the election by 1,500 votes gives it the right to be at par with the government.

The PN is right to say that there are distinctive roles between what is a government and what is an opposition, but statements such as those made by the Prime Minister – “I am the Prime Minister, I am the government” – are certainly not conducive to creating a healthy political environment.

Both sides are too obstinate. Hard-headedness and too much pride are often the cause of blunders.

Politics is a difficult game. Many times politicians forget that they are there for the country, and not for themselves.