There was no doubt that it was going to take a lot of hard work to rebuild and unify the Nationalist Party after the thrashing it got at the last general election.

Allegations of corruption, internecine fighting, rebellious backbenchers, allegations of political back-stabbing, an alienation from the people and coming down on the wrong side of the fence in relation to human issues characterised the reasons for the mass abandonment of support by the electorate.

But the biggest problem seemed to be unifying the party. The PN seemed to go into hibernation for about a year or so. It had to deal with the huge financial woes that had been left to mount for years on end, and that sapped a lot of energy.

In the meantime, Simon Busuttil spent time listening and learning, trying to find out what had gone so terribly wrong. The party went quiet. But of late, the PN seems to be shaping up into a coherent and relevant party in opposition. And the most important thing seemed to be unity. Under the last administration, the PN seemed to have unravelled within and was going off at complete tangents. And that feeling continued to grow. But slowly but surely, the PN seems to have gotten its house in order. It seems to have realised, in the cold light of day, that it no longer calls the shots and must work hard to regain people’s confidence.

The party has also stated that it wishes to build bridges and bury the hatchet with those that felt slighted in the past. In this edition, we publish an analysis which shows that progress has been made.

Previous vociferous critics have said that inroads have been made, although there is a lot left to be done. As with every elected government, this is shedding some support. It is normal, a phenomenon produced by the democratic system. But the full realisation that the “taghna lkoll” mantra was nothing but a slogan that the government does not practise has also had an effect on its popularity. Given that the composition of parliament is so heavily tilted in favour of the government, it is all the more important to have a strong party in opposition. The Nationalist Party – even though it has temporarily lost one of its deputy leaders – seems to now be growing into that role and feeling comfortable in its own skin. But to continue to grow, the party needs to continue to work to heal the internal rifts and selfinflicted injuries that have dogged it for the past five years or so. The party continues to be restructured and reshaped over time, and it is very clear that there is still a long way to go. The PN must continue to show that it is effective, relevant and above all else, united.