In an article on Illum on 23rd March, Peppi Azzopardi lifted a stone. Underneath he found a whole colony of voters who would vote for Joseph Muscat big time. All this because they bought a car that does not work properly but are too embarrassed to confess their bad judgement.

Apparently, too, there are many others who have the same problem and they have been coming out about it, but still, collectively, as Peppi sees it, they have not yet come to the stage of condemning the salesman for having conned them into buying the car which did not meet the offer.

He argues that the shame in having gone for a new make of car instead of sticking with their usual brand, only for it to have failed them, is too great. They have not turned against the salesman in order to save face.

This means, he goes on to say, that if an election were to be held now, it will herald another big win for Labour.

If you only look under a rock, that may be so. Hopefully, though, enough other stones have been turned to reveal not only the stubborn and proud switchers, but also the many stories given to us by journalists, by inquiries, by police investigations, by arrests and by testimonies to not only balance the narrative but also to spread the news. Labour has failed. They have not only conned those switchers and die-hards, but they no longer have any aftersales service and are no longer producing any sort of vehicle, good or bad, that could persuade any new buyers.

The days of Malta Tagħna llkoll, meritocracy, accountability and all the other lies, slogans and billboards that Joseph Muscat had sold to the voters in 2013 have long left the station.

The problem is that when you spend so much time only serving one demographic of the population, albeit a large one, like the Xarabank audience which was ‘cultivated’ over a very long time, then you are aligned to one narrow view. This was one reason that the Nationalist party thought that they would have a win in the 2017 election. They were looking at the comments on social media of the same people who were already PN voters. It gave them a false sense of approval.

If the argument of shame and embarrassment as a reason for sticking with your choice is universally true, then Trump would have been re-elected with a large majority.

Many analysts, internationally, were indeed not expecting the Trump loss but were not surprised by the result. The reasons for not electing Trump again were many and were personal. It did not need a collective swing. Each man and woman decided for themselves that there were enough unacceptable reasons to not vote for Trump again.

Another reason why the outcome next time round can be different, is that there will, hopefully be a more robust, more independent and more balanced 4th pillar - the press and media - that will not just report on mass meetings, size of crowds, new Labour and portray power couple Joseph Muscat and wife Michelle, or their replacement in the form of Robert Abela and wife Lydia. Neither will they harp on the new LNG power station as the next best thing since sliced bread. This time round people will be more sceptical about what they hear and read and choose whom they trust to get their information from.

The public knows very well now what Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri had in mind from the start.

They also can see who the real power behind the machine was. Yorgen Fenech was the archetype that dominated the policies and the wealth ambitions, starting from selling the reduced rates for energy with the construction of Electrogas.

The reduced rates for electricity are in fact the faulty car that was bought by that Muscat voter who today is ashamed to admit his part. By changing their vote now, they will not need to bother thinking about whether or not they blame Muscat. They see that it was the lie about reduced water and electricity bills that they will dump. A poor workman always blames his tools.

The energy bills were pinned as the main issue in 2013. Like “taking back control” was for Brexit. If a new referendum had to be held on Brexit, according to the polls, the result would be against it. People have now had a chance, not long, but enough, to wake up and realize what leaving the EU has meant for them personally, in their jobs and in their opportunities, be it for work or tourism, education and wealth. Next time round they will think of themselves.

The same has happened here in Malta. Whether it is the personal standard of living, the state of the environment, the exaggerated and destructive construction, widespread nepotism, the poor handling of the pandemic or the evident corruption, the mentality has changed.

In addition there is no way that anyone cannot put two and two together and not agree that the “no politicians involved” in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia is infantile and an insult to anyone’s intelligence.

If Robert Abela and his cabinet continue to believe the very same fabrications they have invented, then possibly those voters that Peppi found under the stone will themselves continue to do so. The reality is that many from around and in Castille’s recent past have moved house and are currently resident in Kordin. His cabinet is gasping for air under the revelations of highlevel and low-level corruption, of association with criminals, of alleged murder plots and the image of two bombers going for a cuppa’ after blowing up a woman, allegedly sanctioned from above.

When they need to, the Maltese are quite capable of protecting their best interest. Like they did with the EU membership referendum. When Labour understood this, they changed their tactic completely and started working on the EU gravy train. Tourism remains one of the most important industries for Malta and Gozo. Without it there is no need for more properties, more retail or restaurants and consumption falls drastically. Unless, of course, there are those with money to launder who will continue to open restaurants and build accommodations for tourists in the middle of an ODZ resulting in more national loss.

The blow that has been dealt to the economy, mainly as a result of diminished tourism, especially if other neighbouring destinations will be able to open up and have a Summer, will not easily be forgiven.

Corruption on a scale never seen before, scandal and lies may not have hit the radar in the past two elections but when something is not working, you dump it.

It matters that the opposition parties and candidates do a good job, understand the electorate and come up with credible visions and plans to restore Malta’s reputation, put its economy back on a sound growth path and calm the nerves of the nation who have had enough of the jeopardy around them. Nothing can be taken for granted and many will need to be persuaded to trust again, but we are not starting from a blank screen.