Apart from bringing out some of the biggest crowds of this campaign, the last week was characterized by two hallmarks.

The sharp contrast between Joseph Muscat’s appeals for national unity and a unified sense of purpose and GonziPN’s desperate mantra that red means unemployment and blue means work.

The endorsement of the PL not only by an ever increasing number of intellectuals but also the unbiased comments by highly respectable people like Oliver Friggieri and Martin Scicluna in Muscat’s regard – with the latter being quoted by your sister publication as having said that Malta needs a new approach to politics and an end to the bitter tribalism that continues to tear this country apart…only to add that ‘It stands a better chance of getting this from the Labour Party….’

Even more alarming for those who have conducted a highly negative campaign has been the fact that Mr Martin Scicluna’s comments are almost identical word for word with those that I have heard in recent days during my intensive house visits even in formerly Nationalist leaning areas – To quote Mr Scicluna: ‘The allegations of sleaze against J Muscat and his Deputy do not stand up (except with PN apologists). They pale into insignificance by comparison with Oil gate and the energy scandal…..”

But perhaps the sharpest confirmation that this government failed most in being sensitive and understanding towards the electorate came from Government itself. At a time when particularly over recent years the reborn PL Movement has continued to show that people matter most without necessarily tipping into sheer populism.

That government failed miserably on this front can be seen and gauged from a number of public statements made in the last few days by Dr Gonzi and his much touted Deputy Leader Simon Busuttil who a number of insiders are questioning for the role of ‘natural successor’ to GonziPN.

In the past days Gonzi and Busuttil made statements such as the following:

‘A new PN Government had to ‘improve’ the way it communicated with people.”

“People deserved to be treated with dignity, justice, efficiency, politeness, respect and dedication.”

“We must put people at the centre of our attention again. Modern society deserves that we follow this principle.”

“Citizens must be given their dues when they are right and when they are not, they deserve to be given a dignified explanation in a timely manner...”

The list of things that government did wrong during this legislature even as laid down by the PM itself is proof of government’s insensitivity and disregard for public sentiment and opinion.

Even were we to take the honoraria mistake Government did not only handle it badly, but it should never have done it at all.

To add insult to injury it did it covertly, it only managed to surface thanks to a parliamentary question of mine and another parliamentary colleague of mine, and although towards the end when the public outcry and fall out could hardly be contained at all, Government decided to backtrack partially. With the consequence that it made it patently obvious that it was doing so purely out of convenience rather than conviction. Particularly as Dr Busuttil had hinted in an interview with your newspaper – That it had first spent too much time trying to justify it before finally deciding to try and ‘withdraw’ it.

Where GonziPN and his closest aides are most unrepentant and continue to show that they have kept going on getting their priorities wrong is when they stated on more than one occasion in recent statements and interviews that there was a price that they had for handling the big picture well and they have paid for that.

When the price is, in his own words, that of distancing themselves to a certain extent from people who were impacted by some of these decisions that were taken while tending to the so called big picture, confirms that even were we to buy the Gonzi mantra about this big picture, by his own yardstick he seems to have eroded the most important factor – the element of trust of those that mattered most. The people who have been adversely impacted.

In past years there have been instances when the PL felt compelled to introduce some new taxes but it always made it a point that it was doing so against its own wish, reluctantly and due to then prevalent circumstances.

When it came to GonziPN’s decision to go for a steep hike in utility rates – something that brought the entire civil society and manufacturing industries to their knees – he actually had the  gall to boast in Parliament that he would be voting wholeheartedly (bil qalb kollha!) for such a draconian measure.

What many found totally unconvincing was the way Gonzi tried to withdraw his own damning statement during the most successful Times Big Debate that he would not step down were he to lose the forthcoming general elections.

The bullet point blow by blow telegraphic questions at the end of the highly impressive and professionally organized debate showed that when the real Gonzi stood up, that he was unprepared for such a blitz of questions that were instantly posed to all party leaders at the same time, and that he was so slow in gauging the impact of his own declaration that he then had to go for an unsuccessful damage limitation process once the damage had already been made. With his statement going down in the annals of our political history as the ultimate in GonziPN arrogance, lust for power and insensitivity.

While I have never relied on poll findings, even when there seems to be a degree of consistency between most hold in recent months and years, it is interesting to note that there are strong reports that some newspapers have for some reason or other kept back from publishing other poll results that were reportedly almost identical to those published by the Malta Today. Polls which had proved to be quite accurate during the 2008 campaign too.

Nevertheless, although the future governing of the country remains up for grabs, rather than leaving it for his own party councilors to decide the way forward within his own party as from the day after should the PN actually lose the elections, it is becoming very evident that Gonzi and his Deputy are already trying to impose themselves on their own faithful.

At a time when any resultant defeat – particularly if of the magnitude hinted by the polls – should put into question Gonzi’s role at the helm of the party, that of Simon Busuttil as deputy leader and co-coordinator of the 2013 election programme as well as the key strategists of GonziPN’s campaign who surely should have known better and who have been long tried and tested in such campaigning.

Rather than reining in those who have hi jacked GonziPN by turning it into an almost hate and fear inducing political animal,  have been so evidently in charge of the PN campaign that a mere look at the GonziPN election campaign printed media ads leaves little imagination as to the well paid hacks who crafted them.  The same goes for those who are reported to have actually written the GonziPN electoral programme and then been asked on state broadcasting to comment on the ongoing election campaign under the guise of independent political analysts.

Instead, rather than showing that both he and his aide would be taking any possible defeat humbly, Dr Gonzi has made it clear that he is already tasking Dr Busuttil to take care of PN disgruntlement, almost implying that he should be left untouched by any potential or resultant fall out.

Even Dr Busuttil himself used the same approach. He did so when urging so called disgruntled Nationalists to put aside their own personal hurt by stating that he ‘was personally determined to be there for voters after the election as part of a new ‘PN government.’

And what if it did not win – what will his future role be? Will he too stand up to be counted?

It is only within the context of such statements that one can well understand why GonziPN has failed to deliver and show instead great insensitivity towards the electorate down to the final days of the campaign.

All this eagerness to become more sensitive to public concerns has been heard repeatedly after every electoral defeat suffered by the PN – be they local elections, Euro elections and also after winning the 2008 election by what a wry PL advert claimed as a margin – just enough people to fill up nine Arriva Bendy Buses.’

I will say it once again – that the result is definitely not a foregone conclusion. Anything can happen during this week. Be they clangers, tactical mistakes or even long planned game changers.

But Muscat’s campaign will always be remembered for its positivity, for its constant agenda setting, for its well thought out and articulated plans and road maps as well as for the emotional intelligence with which he has always connected with those even way beyond the mere confines of his party.

Even Muscat’s worst critics know by know what he really meant when he first spoke of building a political movement.

We now know it. He can fully realize it. And in their majority the Maltese are grateful for the manner in which he has redefined a sense of inclusivity. We shall fully respect the electorate’s choice.

But hopefully by just after lunch time next Sunday, Maltese civil society will have realized whether a new chapter in our political history will have started being written or not.

I thank all those who have followed my articles during this campaign – and before – in this newspaper and its sister publication, as well as in other local media. Even if they might have disagreed fundamentally with my personal views and opinions.

Let us keep the political debate healthy even once the dust has settled, the bill boards are pulled down and a new government of whatever orientation gets down to the difficult task ahead of governing the country. Hopefully in a manner that shows that it really and truly cares. And that it will maximize the use of all those with potential to contribute to our country’s future successes.

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