Robert Abela and Alex Borg followed each other to the St Patrick's Day massive celebration at St Julian's the other day.

I have no doubt they will hog each other's footsteps at the Rabat feast of St Joseph (I am writing before but this will only appear after the event).

That's how it will be from here to Election Day. To newcomers to Malta and observers abroad - this is normal in Maltese life. Elections here are massive events involving practically the entire population.

At least this time we will be spared the posters pasted on every spare wall, as used to happen just a few decades ago, or the interminable noisy carcades with party diehards hanging out.

The date has not been announced yet but many indications point to a date this side of the year, which would mean a year short of the full term.

Of course, setting the date remains the prime minister's prerogative but going to the country a year before full term would suggest that up in Castile people are once again getting nervous.

The latest polls have all indicated that the two parties are almost neck and neck, with Abela and Labour still ahead though not with the wide margin registered in the last election. Going to the country a year in advance could indicate, my mind tells me, an underlying paranoia that Borg puts in a last minute surge that carries him past the post.

It always seems to happen like this: the parties draw near in the last pre-election polls but then those who hedged their bets and told pollsters they will not vote and will sit it out, suddenly go for the front runner, and thus the margin suddenly becomes wider and the election is decided. I can remember many cases when this happened.

Assuming that the election is that near, the next date to watch would be 1 May, which has often been used as the official beginning of the election campaign.

The memory of the 1 May when Joseph Muscat brought together a massive crowd that overwhelmed Castile Square and spilled over the adjoining streets is still remembered as setting the standard. 

These are the weeks when those who are not naturally linked to either party decide who they will be voting for. These are therefore the weeks when the undecided make their choice.

Many factors come into play and there is massive scope for mystification and obfuscation, hiding one side's historic mistakes and highlighting the other party's weaknesses.

Let me point out one example or two. The government recently proposed, perhaps as part of its electoral platform, a consultation aiming at the rehabilitation of a small number of derelict sites including White Rocks and Fort Campbell.

It must be preliminarily said that the number of derelict sites in Malta is myriad, ranging from Lower St Elmo to Fort Ricasoli. There is a website which is showing scenes taken from inside some - inside St Philip's Hospital, the Mtarfa Hospital, an entire chapel hit in WW2, etc.

As regards White Rocks, the discovery of the week was an interview with the architect who built White Rocks, who is now in his Nineties, who regularly comes back to Malta and sees year after year his buildings get more derelict and vandalized and who says they can still be restored.

But the past 70 years have seen efforts by both governments to transfer the ownership of this prime site. The Labour Party of the 1980s toyed with various hypotheses but did nothing concrete. Later PN's Clyde Puli proposed a Sports Village and the PN government tried to negotiate with the Zahra family but could not agree on the price of the land.

In short, White Rocks remains a shambles because the two parties were unable to get something concluded. Now one says it wants to consult. If you believe that, you deserve spending the next 70 years living in hope.

As at White Rocks, Fort Campbell was left by the British in pristine condition but is now just a collection of fallen and dangerous structures. Who was in government all these past years and allowed all this deterioration?

How they now have the cheek to come proposing the restoration of what they culpably allowed to deteriorate? And without even asking pardon for these 70 years spent in vain?

And before I end, the Royal Opera House must be rebuilt exactly as it was.