When will the Leader of the Opposition learn that elections are not won by fine words uttered by leaders of political parties to raise the morale of their own supporters, but by sheer hard work and implementation of promises made to the electorate?

Dr Simon Busuttil does not realise that the more he raises the expectations of his own councillors and supporters with claims that the PN will be winning the election in 2018, as he did on Sunday 15 May, two long years before the election, the more he would be preparing for his own downfall as party leader if his grossly optimistic claim comes a cropper in 2018. Dr. Busuttil together with Dr. Gonzi had also assured PN supporters of electoral victory just two days prior to the 2013 election. And we all know the result of that election. Imagine making the same claim two years prior to the 2018 election!

Voters are used to hearing the same mantra repeated by Simon Busuttil whenever he speaks to the party faithful – “ I am clean”, “We are offering a different style of government”, “ Honest politics”, and so on. But when he has to walk the talk, he shies away, as he did on a good number of occasions lately. Does Dr Busuttil honestly believe that the great majority of voters will risk the exceptional successes this government is achieving in so many sectors, for some nice-sounding words, which any politician can say?

I end by quoting one of the most respected PN opinionists, Dr Simon Mercieca, who said: “You can’t expect to get the best advice from the doctor who made you ill in the first place”, a direct reference to those PN deputies who had formed a prominent part of the last GonziPN administration. And who cannot encourage some hope that there will be a different style of government than that which they had offered in the past.

Eddy Privitera

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