The Labour Party commission's report has been made public and I am so very tempted to scream at the top of my voice: I told you so! Although a general election can be lost and won on the eve, so the speak, this was not the scenario in the last general election. I believe Labour failed to attract the electorate long before its electoral campaign took off. Campaigns serve as rubber stamps of political parties' past performance, credibility and vision for the country's future. Prior to the March election, the Nationalist Party's political record and trustworthiness enjoyed maximum points while Labour had botched the exam on all fronts.

One of Labour's major mistakes was its overconfidence. Boasting that the Partnership had won the day, Labour spent a good five years challenging the government to call an early general election claiming it would win hands down.

During the campaign it practically guaranteed a record majority as the "people" were clambering for a change. Foolishly, Labour ignored reality repeating at every turn that the government was incompetent, corrupt and spent. This, in spite of the fact that the government's successful governance and positive results achieved proved quite the opposite.

Simon Micallef Stafrace, Labour candidate for the first district, wrote (The Art of Diplomacy, April 23): "It is worth our while therefore to remember what the MLP was offering" during this year's campaign. Labour's vision for change was "not going to be brought about by the party alone but following consultations with professional bodies and individuals". Nationalist governments have spent decades doing just that while the MLP consistently refused to play tango at all times. It even turned down the invitation to participate in the Malta European Union Steering Action Committee (MEUSEC), to contribute towards the EU negotiations etc. Turning over a new leaf on the eve of the general election is a classic example of doing too little too late.

This emergent writer believes that "The MLP made it crystal clear that the environment was going to be at the centre of decision making". Dah, so what was new? The Nationalists had placed the environment high on their priority list, so much so that €1.88 million were handed out in rebates to consumers who chose to buy energy-efficient domestic appliances since the scheme was introduced in the budget for 2007. Apart from other environmental-friendly measures proposed in the 2008 budget, the government went a step further and pledged a €300 million investment to protect and upgrade our environment.

It is true that before and during the electoral campaign Labour advocated zero tolerance with regard to corruption but that is where it stopped.

Unlike the Prime Minister, who translated those same words into action, Labour kept flinging mud all over the place without ever submitting its allegations to the Commissioner of Police for investigation. To be fair, at the end of the campaign, when challenged by the Prime Minister for the umpteenth time, Labour's leader, presented the Police Commissioner with documents to support one of its "allegations" of corruption.

And what exactly are we meant to understand when we read: "Malta's continued existence as a fully-fledged member of the European Union was also made crystal clear, although others portrayed this fact differently". May I point out that "full-fledged" members states do not go around proposing to re-open negotiations of parts of the "package" they suddenly don't like. For Labour's benefit only, a package is: a group, combination, or series of related parts or elements to be accepted or rejected as a single unit.

I disagree most emphatically that Labour "lost the art of diplomacy, the art of convincing the electorate". Labour was anything but diplomatic. Its inflexibility knows no boundaries and its convincing argument still remains the same: it is right all the time and everyone else is wrong. Labour cannot even see it now.

I cannot help picturing the three wise monkeys' pictorial maxim embodying Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil, when I think of the Labour leadership trio.

Politics is the art of compromise and Labour must stop turning a blind eye to the country's needs. Much has been written about the various roles perception, emotions and issues play in an electoral campaign and Labour would do well to focus its post mortem on each of these aspects and scrutinise the electorate's glaring verdict.

The only Labour "message" which was spot on was its call for change and that is why in less than a week's time Labour will be undergoing a complete blood transfusion and, hopefully, a renovated existence.

In a nutshell: "The local council results for the same day and given by the same electorate speak volumes". Yes they do, deafeningly so. The electorate entrusts Labour in an executive role but it certainly cannot trust Labour in a leadership one.