Over the past few days the Nationalist Party, tongue-in-cheek, has criticised the change in the Labour Party’s colour schemes, saying that the PL wanted to shift away from the blazing red that is linked with its violent past to softer colours that attempt to give it a new image.

It even pointed out that Labour leader Joseph Muscat was avoiding wearing red ties, and chose to go for bluish tints, and interpreted this as a way to portray himself as more moderate and, therefore, more electable. At the same time, the PN said that in spite of these subtle changes in the colours used, Labour was still the same party that lacked ideas.

As if to answer this form of criticism, Dr Muscat last Sunday wore a black outfit and a black tie. The small white spots on it were not discernible on TV, but came out in the photographs printed in newspapers.

Politics, of course, goes beyond the colours of ties. Although today political parties consider each and every detail that could either make or break them, it is the substance that matters. It is what they are planning to do that should sway voters one side or another.

Right as we are in the middle of a political crisis that could pave the way for an early election – a vote to see whether the government still enjoys a majority in the House of Representatives will be taken on Thursday – the Labour Party has still not spoken a word about its intentions, and what kind of political programme it is preparing.

Dr Muscat’s speech on Sunday was devoid of suggestions and proposals, and he was expected to do much better, given that he was addressing a party general conference on the eve of what should be a decisive week for Malta. Speaking about his upbringing was not a way to enter a week that could change the history of the country.

Neither was he any clearer in the interview he gave to a Sunday newspaper. He avoided going into the nitty-gritty of what the Labour Party would do if it is elected to government. This kind of tactic may have been the road to take at a time when there was no political crisis to contend with, but Labour would do well to change course and start to speak up about its electoral programme.

It is only then that we would all know Labour’s true colours.