The Nationalist Party will not be using the GonziPN slogan that led it to the last election victory. This was hinted by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in his speech at the party’s extraordinary general council last Sunday, the day after he was confirmed as leader with a staggering 96.5% of votes, and it was confirmed by Dr Gonzi himself during the programme Iswed fuq l-Abjad on Net TV on Wednesday.

In the last election, the PN felt it was opportune to focus on Dr Gonzi, who was for the first time leading the party in an election, against a Labour Party which had kept its leader, Alfred Sant, in spite of defeats in 1998 and 2003. Today, the PN wants to discard the slogan and put forward the idea that it is a party for the people, a party that is looking outwards.

Dr Gonzi has admitted that the party has somewhat ignored the needs of the individual in its bid to concentrate on the overall picture. But this macro approach distanced it from the day-to-day needs of the man in the street. It was now the time, he said, to build bridges with each and every citizen.

Time will tell whether this is too little, too late for the Nationalist Party. Surveys have shown that it stands at between nine and 13 percentage points behind Labour, which is a large gap to make up in the year that remains until the next election – if the government lasts the whole term.

The PN is being accused of taking this conciliatory approach because the election is round the corner. It is being told that its ministers and officials are too arrogant for them to be able to reverse the trend. It is being told that too many times many people have been let down on an individual basis.

The fact that the PN has realised its mistake and is prepared to work to repair the damage is already a positive step. That Simon Busuttil and Paul Borg Olivier have been appointed to spearhead a wide exercise to bring the PN as close to as many people as possible is also welcome.

However the question that needs to be asked is why wasn’t this exercise already happening. Why did the PN leave it so late in the day to understand how far it had detached itself from the grassroots?

Some will say it’s better late than never, but one has to see whether this strategy will work and, more than this, whether it will lead the PN to a fourth consecutive election victory.