These past few days I have come across various disillusioned Nationalists in the Northern part of the 9th District who tended to argue that the more GonziPN dip in the polls the more they are likely to put any serious discussion of party manifestos aside and focus more on sheer negativity and character assassination.

This had not only been predicted by our side which has so far been brave enough to fight and counter negativity with a new tidal wave of positivity but it was also the main thrust of articles written by independent columnists as recently as late December last year.

One particular article to come to mind is a letter to the editor from former Times deputy editor Roger Mifsud who in a contribution dated Saturday December 29, 2012 had written as follows:

“I am willing to bet that the electoral campaign will make a shambles of our weak democratic credentials, which have already been shown somewhat for  what they are, by the way Lawrence Gonzi abused the House of Representatives over the past many months of a lost parliamentary majority. In his Xmas message Dr Gonzi put gloss over the piteous state to which he has reduced those credentials.’

But arguably the most forceful part of Mifsud’s contribution was when he stated that: The electoral campaign will be like a Hurricane Sandy compared to out grigalati when put against what has been happening so far.

There will be lies, and lies about lies, and God knows what dirty tricks will be played by the Government, which at all costs will want to be in power for Malta’s 2017 EU rotating presidency.

People’s heads will be fuming wildly by the claims and counter claims so let us hope that by Election Day our faces will be facing front….’

I believe that Mr Mifsud could not have been more prophetic than that even if he himself might not have realized what a political tsunami of the worst order was already brewing by then.

Actually this type of deplorable ball game had first become evident in the House of Representatives itself when the PN’s barefaced lie had surfaced regarding Justyn Caruana’s vote in Parliament in May 2010. As Justyn had once recalled with personal pain, it was not just yet another political spat, but a lie orchestrated for the sole purpose of enabling the GonziPN to attempt to save face, with complete disregard to the truth, and in a manner unbecoming of the honour of parliamentary representative colleagues of mine. People who I have always respected on a personal level.

Today we have got to the stage where moral and psychological violence is being perpetrated against any innocent souls who might have chosen to endorse the PL publicly.

I recently came across a University lecturer who told me that he had suddenly decided to start going public with his political views, since relying on prudence had proved to be not enough. With most of his colleagues looking down on him for not joining them in after lecturing hours in rubbishing the Opposition of the day.

I had long been claiming that Minister Gatt who was meant to be spearheading GonziPN’s electoral campaign had long morphed into the PL’s secret weapon.

But his behaviour this week cannot go simply ignored or forgotten:

He first refused to comment on the Oilgate saga not to prejudice on going investigations. Two days later he held two media conferences in 24 hours or less.

The PM himself first chose to resort to a customary no comment on the said sad saga only for him to endorse Gatt on behalf of his own Cabinet team when no one knows where the buck will really end.

Regardless of how the Minister might have acquired his Swiss bank account, it is totally unacceptable for him to flatly ignore requests by the media to disclose any info about this account and possible tax dues,  when this should have been regularly laid down in the Minister’s parliamentary scrutiny returns of assets and income since much earlier than 2005 when he had last reported it formally.

Equally worrying was the fact that in spite of Mr Gatt being an expert in micro management, he seems to have forgotten whether in his time as the PN General Secretary he had ever instructed the Police to release key suspects under investigation from the Police Lock Up

Minister Gatt seems to have suffered from another bout of selective political amnesia when he initially could not recall when he had last declared his Swiss account.

The news that gifts and financial transactions and payments are the key to the Farrugia evidence in the Presidential Pardon saga gain in added momentum when one recalls that according to the same source the financial transactions will widen the scope of the police’s investigations and could embarrass the government.

While I will continue to treat opinion polls lightly since a week in politics can prove to be far too long, one cannot but reflect upon certain traits and characteristics that have surfaced in recent weeks and months.

The way the PL seems to have gained in support with the Oilgate saga inevitably helping it widen its lead.

The Muscat-Gonzi trust factor where Joseph Muscat has always won – so far – hands down in terms of credibility, standing and popular support. To trail Muscat by 14 points in the trust rating is no joke.

The more that GonziPN will realize – as they have surely long done – that the oil procurement scandal has dented their credibility and standing seriously, the more vicious will some of the elements within it become.

What government is not realizing is that its own misguided tactics, strategies and policy implementation is leading to an increasing net swing from PN to PL voters; as well as a lead that the PL seems to have forged among new voters and non voters in the 2008 election.

Let us hope that in the final days of the campaign we shall have some positive thinking from the governing party. Something that can hopefully raise the level of debate and present the electorate with some real choices about tomorrow and the new beginning. Rather than selective dips into the past that serve only the purpose of satisfying curiosity keepers and watchers.

Winning by defeating a party out of favour and rejected by the electorate is already an achievement in these difficult times, but to have the PL perceived as also having the best ideas merely goes to prove how far we have moved since Joseph Muscat became PL Leader in Summer 2008.

The PL manifesto has shown that not only are we ready for March 9 but also for the tough road ahead as from March 10 onwards.