Politics is all about the people

Given the unwavering opinion polls in recent months, it was no surprise that the Labour Party was swept into government yesterday. The historic majority it managed to garner, however, was beyond even its expectations.

Why Labour won the 2013 general election will be a subject dissected over and over again in the coming days but there are doubtless a number of positive and negative reasons.

First, the Labour Party must be credited for its campaign, an area where it has failed dismally in past elections. It was slick throughout and diligently organised, not to mention well-funded, which was key to the party’s success.

Labour learnt from past mistakes and went for a structured, rather sober and definitely positive campaign that reaped dividends. It started with an overdue exposition of its energy proposal and ended with a message of optimism.

The in-between was overshadowed by the release of recordings that compromised, in particular, its deputy leader Toni Abela and, to a lesser extent, the leader himself, Joseph Muscat. Though the party’s line of defence was unconvincing, it managed to weather the storm that threatened to cause the second resignation of a Labour deputy leader in almost as many months.

All this seemed to be of no consequence to the majority who overwhelmingly voted in favour of Labour yesterday. What the party has managed to do over a period of not just weeks but years is convince a large number of people that the time was ripe for change. In this respect, perhaps it mattered much less what the Labour Party did in the campaign as opposed to what it did not do, which is fall victim to banana skins.

Time was, of course, on its side. The Nationalist Administration had governed almost uninterruptedly for 25 years and as long as people did not feel threatened by the alternative – as they did when Alfred Sant led the party in 2008 – it became almost an inevitability that Labour would get into power.

This came with a helping hand from the Nationalist side. The rebel MPs were a contributory factor, since they managed to derail the Government’s agenda and make life almost impossible for Lawrence Gonzi, which was at his dignified best in defeat yesterday.

But there is no doubt that the governing party lost its way too. It did certain big things very well and Dr Gonzi himself should take a great deal of credit for his management of the economy and the Libyan crisis.

However, the Nationalist Party sought to cling to power for a year too long and lost sight of the need to promote what it was doing to the people who ultimately matter: the electorate, as well as the need to heed and address their concerns.

This manifested itself in a number of ways, not least through the Government’s inept handling of the media.

The Nationalist Party has focused too much effort in recent years on dismissing sources of even constructive criticism as the enemy and embracing sycophants. And, at times, it launched or supported McCarthyite-like campaigns against those not seen to be toeing the line.

This caused it terminal harm and must be one of the fundamental changes it makes as it searches for a completely new approach that is required if it wants to get back into government.

Dr Muscat would be wise to learn from this grave shortcoming as he embarks on a new chapter in his career: never stop listening, never lose touch and never stop dialoguing with well-intentioned critics. Or face the consequences.