The Prime Minister has finally put an end to speculation that an early election will be held, saying that one would take place in 2022, the year it is scheduled to take place in.

This came after months of intense speculation, which resulted in uncertainty being created in the country. Speculation was rife and everyone was talking about the possibility. The Prime Minister as well as government ministers had refused to put the rumours to bed before Monday, despite being asked on many, many occasions.

It is the Prime Minister’s prerogative to decide when an election is called, as long as it does not surpass the period stipulated at law, but leaving the country in such uncertainty as he did was not the right decision. What harm could there have been in saying that an election would be called in 2022 a month ago?

That is, unless the Prime Minister was actually seriously considering it, or playing political games with the opposition. The opposition has been campaigning quite strongly, almost as though it is already in an election campaign. How much is this costing them? Was this a way for the Prime Minister to help empty the PN’s coffers? Was this even a consideration?

The opposition did not help things by constantly bringing up the possibility of an early election.

Now that everyone is at ease that no general election will be held this year, businesses can continue without any concern.

The Labour Party will need to focus on keeping its voter lead, while the PN will need to work on closing the gap. Make no mistake, it will be a very hard, uphill battle for the PN to come close to posing a real challenge.

The Nationalist Party has been coming out with proposal after proposal, something which past PN Leaders were seen to have lacked in doing. Instead of just focusing on fighting corruption, which is still a major point, proposals for the country are, indeed, being made.

The Labour Party meanwhile continues to come out with proposals of its own, having just put forward quite a good budget plan, and having announced not one, but two major projects – that of the Hal Far race track, and issuing the metro studies for public consultation.

While the former will, probably, become reality, the latter is far harder to determine. There are many questions as to whether the project is truly doable, whether it is worth the cost, and what changes to the plans would be needed if it is.

Then there is the FATF grey listing. It is already starting to cause issues, but it has yet to really affect the public. A slow conclusion could have detrimental outcomes to the country, and so a swift return to the white list must be one of the government’s priorities. That could also have an impact on the election.