Think change…Think positive change.

The PL could have hardly thought up a more inclusive and positive campaign slogan than it did. It says it all and only the cynical will try to ridicule it.

For the simple reason that they do not believe in its spirit and message since they have long been overtaken by divisiveness, greed and an insatiable lust for power.

With Parliament having been dissolved less than 24 hours ago, and the PL having formally launched its official election campaign one minute after midnight early Monday, there seems to be no looking back as the country swings into a full blown campaign where mass and district activities are expected to proliferate regardless of the weather (good or bad) while home visits are bound to intensify too.

Although most opinion polls often speak of a sizeable chunk of undecided voters, I am of the opinion that far more people have already made up their minds as to how to vote and who to vote for than such polls might imply.

But this does not mean that there are no undecided voters. The numbers are still likely to be considerable.

I cannot also exclude the possibility of seeing the recent Presidential French and American elections experience repeating itself locally. In the sense that a number of voters, particularly members of the younger generation, might actually make their minds up whether to vote or not, as well as who to vote for, in the last few hours leading to the run up to voting day proper.

The general feeling among the electorate seems to be that they intend to think change but change of a different kind. Change that can only be equated with positive change.

They expect a change in mentality. A change in direction. A change in approach. A change that knows no ideological boundaries.  And even more importantly a change in our priorities when putting our resources – human and financial – to best use, particularly at a time when hard times are being experienced both globally and locally. This explains why Joseph Muscat often claims that the days of political parties are over and people tend to think in terms of political movements.

The deceit of the last few days and hours does not bode well. It also shows that even if the governing party might manage to get its act together its campaign so far has not only proved to be a lack luster one. But also one based on a stop go approach, with many unpredictable twists and turns and false starts.

A case in point is their apparently self-aborted mass meeting.

When this was advertised by the PN itself on Facebook there were no disclaimers that this was incorrect information.

When the story was carried prominently in this newspaper’s printed and electronic media no PN denials were issued either.

By Friday night I was tipped off that the mass meeting which had been tentatively set to take place on Il-Fosos had been scrapped, and GonziPN were looking for an excuse of sorts. To justify having done so after having had cold feet.

Come Saturday morning and another electronic site revealed that GonziPN would be organizing a mass meeting in Gozo – only hours before the PL mass activity in Rabat, Gozo. Next Sunday.

Political analysts that I contacted were of the same opinion. That this was perceived as an act of panic and provocation.

Common sense seems to have prevailed since then, since we were given to understand that GonziPN had been ‘misunderstood’ or ‘misquoted’ and that all that the PN would be organizing would be a customary event under the usual tent. Even though one cannot exclude that Maltese supporters could cross over for what is now being packaged as a customary routine political gathering.

What struck me as rather odd – even from the media ‘silence’ point of view – was that although the PL have been pestered for months on end to disclose full details of their manifesto, with their Summer Congress findings being dismissed by the usual suspects as being too sketchy for merely relying on values and road maps, we have now come to learn that the PN will only be launching its own set of values and manifesto outline for the time being, with the electoral programme still being in their own words – a work in progress that will be only finalised at a later stage.

We have also seen state broadcasting at its most merciless in the past few days.

Not only did they load the dice decidedly in Government’s favour, when reporting the so called highlights of the Dissett debate between the two party deputy leaders – an approach that found an almost identical echo in certain government leaning independent newspapers – but we had state broadcasting also censoring none other than the President of the Republic when he recently spoke of the thousands living under the poverty line in the Maltese islands. A shocking revelation that he reaffirmed on New Year’s Day when meeting leading dignitaries, among whom the Leader of the Opposition.

While one must admit that the deputy leaders if anything managed to battle it out calmly last Saturday, I sympathize fully with that particular newspaper that adopted a fasten your seatbelts approach when last Sunday it spoke of the imminent launch of the election campaign.

In their own way the two parties will try to get the people to think change.

The fundamental difference between the two parties is that while the PL has learnt at its own expense from its own mistakes over the years, GonziPN are as unrepentant as ever.

With this in mind one finds it very hard to accept the PN’s recent change in tack whereby they promised to follow suit and embark on a positive campaign too. Paul Borg Olivier’s instinctive reaction to the PL logo does not imply any switch to positive thinking.

While the President of the Republic and the Leader of the Opposition have categorically urged people to keep the election campaign clean, Dr Gonzi has so far only appealed for mutual respect and stopped there. He seemed far more interested in whipping up enthusiasm more than anything else.

The same can be said for the new GonziPN deputy leader, who conveniently tries to lead us to believe that he is one of the first to invariably criticize his government’s mistakes, when it is common knowledge that apart from being GonziPN’s own special envoy to try and change public perceptions, he is also none other than the architect and co-coordinator of the 2008 election manifesto of GonziPN that was built on so many unkept pledges. The same way that he had done when co-coordinating the MEUSAC offices in the run up to Malta’s EU membership. By coming forward with stands which many rightly or wrongly thought of as being rather economical with the truth.

While we had various public calls to show maturity once the election result is out, the litmus maturity test will be the conduct of the two main political parties throughout the campaign itself.

Particularly when it comes to articulating and explaining in fine detail the proposals that they will be submitting to an electorate with a jaded palate. Turned sour after so many years of hollow promises and false guidance.

People will vote a party in and or another party out, - apart from the traditional party lines divide – on the basis of who can really convince the electorate that it will be fully committed to putting the political divide to an end.

Last Sunday I had occasion to refer to a publication that I urge you all to read through. Whether you are long tried and tested Maltese voters. First time voters. Or even Malta watchers as a result of your work, posting and current employment.

I am referring to the Speech delivered by the President of the Republic on the occasion of the opening of Parliament on 19 May, 2008.

As has long been the tradition, such a speech is normally a true reflection of the priorities of the government of the day.

What struck me most was that although various government spokespersons, including the new GonziPN deputy leader claim that some 90% of their manifesto promises have been implemented, a quick read through this speech will instantly reveal that this is definitely not the case. Since most of the major promises remained pie in the sky. Whether we are referring to SMART CITY, government plans to develop it into a SMART MALTA CONCEPT, the Whistle Blowers’ Act, State Party Financing, Eco Gozo’s conversion into an island based on renewables, a Special Investigator in a revamped Anti Corruption Commission, judicial reform, electoral reform, a holistic transport reform and many other pledges.

As from today people will not only be comparing the two parties’ present manifestos, but they will also be taking stock of what the party in government promised to do – and how much of these pledges were kept.

It is only on this basis that people can really feel at ease in reaching without any undue pressure, a fair assessment as to which party can offer real opportunities as well as real solutions to the country’s problems and challenges.

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