ALL CHANGE NOTHING?

Predictably, Labour's grey eminences, of which there are many, popped up to bolster their relatively youthful leader's equally predictable reaction to the confirmation by the Nationalist Party that its members want Dr Gonzi to remain on as leader.

The vote in favour was equally predictable itself, of course, though perhaps there was some element of tension involved in seeing how many would vote against or not bother, not bothering, in a one horse race, being arguably (though not necessarily) a vote against. It actually was not, as it happened, because two who did not vote immediately confirmed their support for Gonzi in the House (giving the lie to maltastar.com, which is not a difficult thing to do) and the one who did vote but has been less than effusive in his support for Gonzi didn't make a point of saying that he was one of the nay-saying few, into which something may be read.

For Labour to say that Saturday's wave of support for Gonzi is meaningless, a waste of time and did nothing for families (don't ask me what that last one means, ask Joseph, he's the one obsessed with putting families into everything, like mom and apple pie) is disingenuous. Faux naive, even.

The vote proved that the PN is solidly behind its leader, to the extent that anyone who can read the tea-leaves can now see that the "rebels" might have got over feeling antsy and will now have to let the Government carry on governing.

Nothing less than petty was the way Labour wheeled out John Camilleri, whose heart beats fervently but not for Gonzi, to say that the election was not in accordance with the PN's statute. There was even a breathless report about how someone who is undergoing corruption charges and should have been expelled from the party was given a vote, for all the world as if a) Labour is entirely innocent of harbouring people undergoing criminal charges and b) it makes a blind bit of difference.

In fact, Labour should stay away from the proper conduct of elections completely, given their past record in this regard. Lino Spiteri might have something to say about this, for instance, if his memory stops functioning in convenience mode.

All in all, Gonzi has reason to feel slightly satisfied and, after his speech on Sunday, Labour should be less confident that the General Elections are going to be a walk-over. Yes, I know that they're telling us all that they're the underdogs, but that's just another of Muscat's sound-bite gimmicks – in their heart of hearts, they just know they're going to walk it, that it's all over bar the shouting.

The Local Council Elections will go some way to confirming this, of course, as the PN is in for a creaming and a half, but coming after Gonzi's call to the colours, this will only serve to stiffen the spines and strengthen the sinews for the long slog ahead. Labour have the wind at their backs and no mistake, but they had better not put a foot wrong, because for the PN, things can only get better, unless they do what they're so good at and come over all Nationalist again.

There are only so many times that the electorate is going to look at Labour and recoil, after all, and many think that the quota was used up when Alfred Sant was their leader.