This will be the last quiet Sunday for a while.

As from tomorrow, once President George Abela issues the writ to dissolve Parliament, the nine-week election campaign officially kicks off.

It’s not that we have stopped discussing politics these days. The truce that was agreed to by the two sides of the House did not hold that long. True, no mass activities have been held, but both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have been engaged in events that were subtly aimed to continue passing on the message: that there is no need for change from the one side, and that there is a need for one from the other.

But as from tomorrow, things will start to get progressively worse. Messages will be delivered and repeated ad nauseam to get them across. There will be twists and turns, political gimmicks, controversy and interpretations to suit all interests.

Politicians always promise that they will be discussing issues, but on most occasions these will be set aside in favour of comments and jibes to raise spirits or perhaps try to sway that part of the electorate which is described as “floating” to one side or the other.

It is said that these voters hold the balance of power. It is also said that these people change their preference according to their personal interests or depending on their particular circumstances. And so both political parties will be doing their best to win them over, although many times they end up only satisfying the thirst of their diehards.

The Nationalist Party and the Labour Party are both expected to present their election manifesto in the first week of the campaign, and then base all their arguments on what they are proposing while at the same time finding fault with what the other side is putting forward.

While on the one hand it is already known that the PN will focus on three particular issues that have been its strong points throughout the legislature – employment, education and health – the Labour Party has refrained from expressing itself on most topics, always saying that it will make its intentions public when the time comes. Well, the time has now come and the PL cannot sit back anymore. For one thing, it needs to explain quickly how it intends reducing the energy rates and must be very convincing in doing so – after all, it is the PL’s continuous reluctance to say how it will do it that has raised expectations so much.

This will be an election like no other.

First of all, the campaign is the longest since the one of 1987, and therefore there will be time to digest what is taking place and for everyone to understand what the parties are saying. Some would say that it is too long, and that it will keep the country at a standstill at a time when it is important that it maintains the momentum which has enabled it to survive the difficult economic turmoil that has engulfed other nations.

Secondly, it is uncommon for a party to win more than two terms in a row, but we have a situation in which the PN is seeking a fourth consecutive mandate after grabbing the third by a whisker in 2008. And, with the polls showing the Labour Party still holding on to a sizeable advantage, it will take more than a miracle for the PN to reverse matters. This is why it is hard to believe Joseph Muscat when he says that the PL is the underdog in this election.

Thirdly, the PN and PL will be battling it out with completely opposite structures. The PN has a seasoned politician as its leader with a team of up-and-coming politicians, none of whom were ministers when the PN was elected in 1987, and most of whom held ministerial portfolios for the first time in the current legislature. The PL, on the other hand, has a new leader who is leading the party into an election for the first time but who has behind him a number of people who were part of the Labour government in the early 1980s.

Fourthly, both parties have chosen to change their second-in-command in the last few weeks before the election. Simon Busuttil has replaced Tonio Borg as deputy leader of the PN, and Louis Grech took over from Anglu Farrugia as PL deputy leader for parliamentary affairs. The two changes were made in different circumstances, but were intended to give both sides a fresh face near the top at a time when new blood was needed. One difference is that whereas Dr Busuttil is seen as having taken a step towards becoming party leader once Dr Gonzi calls it a day, I cannot imagine that the same can be said in respect of Mr Grech.

Fifthly, it will be the first election that will have the social media as the main battleground. In 2008, this had already started to be the case, but in the last five years technology has made further strides forward and both parties will be making use of it to reach out to all those who want to listen. Apart from the traditional TV and radio stations and newspapers, we now also have so many news portals and social media platforms that it will be next to impossible for even the person who is most reluctant to be involved in politics to remain out of it.

It is time for the country to make up its mind as to which party will govern it for the next five years. It is a choice each democratic nation has to make. The coming nine weeks are the foundation on which we will build our future.

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