When Parliament usually rises for the summer recess, the indirect message is that the country is in holiday mood. Politicians are less obtrusive, the number of political activities falls to a minimum and the political parties seem to take a break too unless something really urgent crops up.

This year this will not happen. For one thing, it is the last summer before the election, and therefore the political parties are gearing up for the election campaign. And, secondly, the recent developments in Parliament and outside, in particular within the ranks of the Nationalist Party, will continue to reverberate in the next few weeks.

The Nationalist Party has so much to digest on Thursday when its executive meets again.

It will have to deal with the complaint raised by Franco Debono after the last executive meeting condemned his parliamentary vote against former Home Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, with the Għaxaq MP saying that he did not have the chance to defend himself.

It will have to deal with the allegations raised by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando on Malta’s Ambassador to the European Union, Richard Cachia Caruana. After voting with the Opposition to force Mr Cachia Caruana’s resignation, JPO is now insisting that he is expelled from the party for colluding with the Labour Party some 15 years ago.

The two renegade MPs have put many spokes in their party’s wheels during the current legislature, and it seems that this will go on right till the end. It can be argued that the party should have been stricter with them at the start of the legislature, but the counter-argument here is that with a one-seat majority there was not too much room for manoeuvring. What is sure is that never before has there been a situation when a party in government has had to tackle so many internal problems – and this at a time when the country is moving forward at a brisk pace.

When one considers that, in spite of the economic turmoil that has gripped so many countries, Malta has continued to generate jobs, it is clear that the government is doing its job.

Nonetheless, the Nationalist Party must tackle its internal issues. The Prime Minister has said that the decisions to be taken on Thursday will be “important” – but what he means will not be known until they are announced. Talk of expelling Dr Debono and Dr Pullicino Orlando – and Jesmond Mugliett, who abstained on the Richard Cachia Caruana motion – have made the rounds, but it is highly unlikely that the PN will go down this road at this point in time.

Whatever happens on Thursday, the PN needs to make sure that it presents itself as a united front at the next election. Otherwise, its already slim chances to make it four wins in a row will evaporate completely.