Labour leader Alfred Sant must have raised a few eyebrows, even within his own party, when he commented about the last general election at a press conference the other day.
Speaking in the context of his call on the Prime Minister for a Cabinet reshuffle, he said it was clear that Lawrence Gonzi would not take up the challenge to go for an early election, even if it were now amply clear that the Nationalist Party won the last election solely on the EU ticket. Now?! This is either a political lapsus of the first order or another of his serious miscalculations.
If that is exactly what he said, then Dr Sant has every reason to feel the need of calling on people door to door for it does seem he has divorced himself from the general feeling in the country. Indeed, as it has so often been said already, had Labour accepted the people's verdict as expressed in the 2003 referendum in time and changed its EU policy then, not now, they might have won the general election that followed.
The Labour leader has been making far too many miscalculations in politics, which is why many have found it strange he has opted to remain at the helm of his party. Dr Sant would seem to be taking it for granted that the people have a short memory. That is a risk he takes at his peril.
At the same time he made the comment about the election, the MLP leader announced his party's plan to step up their campaign to highlight what he called the government's abysmal record. There is nothing more beneficial to the country and to the party in government itself than having a keen opposition that keeps the administration on its toes all the time. The problem with the party in opposition in Malta is that it has not yet found its feet since it lost its majority support in Parliament - over the Cottonera waterfront project!
Dr Sant says he can prove why the MLP is more than a suitable alternative government. Where exactly is the proof? What proof is Dr Sant talking about? Labour's unsuitability as an alternative government is in fact a major problem for the country for it breeds complacency within the governing party, as it has amply been shown since the last general election.
The PN's unpopularity, as expressed in the outcome of the Euro parliamentary elections and in two local council elections, is giving the MLP the impression that the general election, still a long way off, is theirs for the taking. It is not, for Labour is not as yet perceived as a suitable alternative government.
Clearly, Labour is at present riding on the back of the Nationalists' unpopularity. The MLP did not win the last three contests - small as they may be in comparison to a national contest - through their own merits but in default of the Nationalists.
The MLP, Dr Sant said, would be drawing up policy papers on all the major sectors to show the best way forward for the country. Their last document was peppered with platitudes, rhetoric and proposals that have been repeated so many times over the years they have become clichés.
The country needs far more than this to move forward. For the Labour Party to start winning credibility, it needs good direction and, above all, policies that are seen to meet national aspirations rather than to satisfy the urge for power.