The Gonzi factor: Renewal

When the dust settles on the election of 2008, the pre-eminent contributor to the Nationalists' third victory in a row will be known by the name of Lawrence Gonzi. It was his sheer energy and sense of purpose that has pulled off this victory for the Nationalist Party.

Many factors militated against a third consecutive term for the Nationalists in government: too long in office, potential victims of their own success, running a campaign on too many fronts (including non-voters and more small parties), a mud-slinging opposition party, mistakes on the environmental front and a general yearning for some kind of change. But the PN had that one element that could shift the balance of the electoral equation and that was definitely Dr Gonzi.

Most elections are essentially a choice between continuity and change. Labour argued for change and the electorate seemed to agree, at least in what transpired from the few opinion polls that were published. What Labour didn't grasp was that the electorate was rather more sophisticated and saw the desired change in Dr Gonzi not in Alfred Sant.

What Dr Gonzi contributed to the electoral campaign was that he was perceived as being the desired change - a change in team and method rather than in policies and results. In his four years as Prime Minister, Dr Gonzi had already delivered substantial job creation, accelerating economic growth, a silent revolution in education, a new hospital, a seamless changeover to the euro and action on several fronts for the environment. The electorate did not want to discard the policies that got these results. However, it did want a renewed government, leaner, younger and more effective. Most importantly, the electorate saw in Dr Gonzi the Prime Minister who could deliver this renewal.

For all Labour's talk of change and being close to the people, it was Dr Gonzi who, in these last years, showed that he knew best what the country needed to achieve results and who had the vision and direction that are the hallmarks of true leaders. He communicated to the electorate his vision of Malta reaching its full potential in the European Union. Dr Gonzi read the mood of the people for the renewal that he has already been delivering in the make-up of his Cabinet and in the decisions he has been making since being confirmed in office.

Throughout the last few years and weeks, he has shown himself much closer to the people, a listener who has the humility and self-confidence to accept that he made mistakes and who is then able to take the necessary action. His proposed reform of Mepa shows he has his fingers on the electorate's pulse much better than Labour's many polls and voluminous documents. He knocked on doors, met disgruntled voters, made inspiring speeches and showed the vision that has put him again in the Auberge de Castille. He has fused continuity and change and the electorate approved of it.

Kate Gonzi has to come in for a special mention. She was there all along, unobtrusive yet visibly supporting her husband's energetic campaign. Docile in manner, yet firm in resolve, almost a politician in her own right, she gave Dr Gonzi's campaign that extra dimension of a family engaged in the humility and determination that Dr Gonzi was preaching to his party and to the electorate.

Just a little word about Labour. Dr Sant has now left his post even though he may yet try to drive from the backseat in order to install a new leader to his own liking. In this general election, Labour has again underwhelmed and underachieved. It cannot be all the leader's fault. Labour not only lacked fresh faces but, more importantly, a vision for Malta. What does Labour stand for? It is this question Labour has to answer before, rather than after, it chooses a new leader.