It seems the Nationalist Party just cannot win... no, not in terms of elections, but in terms of public perception.

It is the beginning of July and no one has heard a peep out of the party in weeks, if not more than a month.  After its defeat at the polls, many told the PN that the way it was doing politics was far too negative and people were sick of hearing the same old mantra, time and time again.

Then, something changed. The multitude of petty meaningless press releases stopped being issued and visits to places for this that and the other also stopped. Following the abrupt about turn, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil later tweeted and said he felt it was about time that the Sunday political ‘sermons’ ended and that he was going to be the one to stop first, challenging the Labour Party to do the same.

So, from a complete overload of negative politics, the PN has gone into utter silence. If a pin were to drop within the PN headquarters, we could probably hear it here at our offices in St Julian’s. So it begs the question... why has the PN gone from one extreme to the other?

In the past few weeks there have been numerous occasions where one would expect the PN to release a statement... there was the San Blas illegal development issue, the government’s agreements with China, the amendments to drug laws and many more.

We understand that the PN believes that it had gone into overkill mode, but is stonewall silence the remedy ? We believe not. The opposition has been active in parliament, especially in question time. But it also makes people wonder, has the PN gone silent for reasons other than that? On various issues, is the PN remaining silent because it has so many skeletons in the closet that it does not want to be brought out to the public eye?

It is true, you just cannot win in the game that is politics. And while this government has a massive majority, the country still needs a strong and active opposition to act as a check and balance. The media – as the fourth establishment – also has a role to play. But the current situation where the media often does the job of an opposition party while that same party remains silent on crucial issues is not an ideal situation to be in.

The PN can be forgiven for going into slumber and beach mode early this year to lick its wounds, but it should not have done so that early. What is most important is that a few epiphanies are had around the pool or by the beach so the opposition can come back once parliament kicks off after its summer break and be involved and relevant in Malta’s activities.