As the dust settles and the country adjusts to a new political leadership, the Nationalist Party enters into a politically sensitive period, needing to acknowledge the heavy defeat it suffered at the polls and understand better its cause to be able to re-transform itself into the politically relevant party this country needs.

We need to go back to our grassroots, to listen and to understand, to be willing to admit our mistakes and change

As down as we might feel, democracy does not condemn us to eternal opposition even if in the eyes of many this is how it may feel. We need to regroup, learn from our past mistakes, reinvent ourselves, focus on our strengths and rebuild this party into the party which the people will be comfortable to choose once again in the near future, with the first appointment being the European Party elections in May 2014.

There are no two ways about it: this result was a strong victory for Labour and an equally strong message to the Nationalist Party. It would be irresponsible to ignore the strong message the electorate sent us. However, it would also be equally irresponsible to suddenly throw all we have achieved and worked for and forget that this is the party that has given Malta’s its independence, democracy, freedom, European stature, a strong economy and thousands of jobs.

We remain the party that has taken Malta into the 21st century in more ways than one with a parliamentary group that is possibly one of the youngest and most experienced ever. We still have a lot to give to this country and we should proudly do it from the opposition and be ready to do it when called again to be in government.

We passed on to Labour a country with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU, with the highest level of gainfully occupied people ever, with a diverse and modern economy based on higher value added manufacturing activity, record tourism results, a growing services sector, be it the financial services sector, ICT, the digital gaming industry, online gaming and aviation services, among others.

This is the modern economy the Nationalist Party has created and given to this country. Ignoring the achievements that have characterised our recent history would be a grave mistake. It is against these achievements that Labour will need to be judged.

Very few of us possibly noted that when reporting last Saturday’s Labour victory, many international news websites took the opportunity to describe Malta as a beacon in the Mediterranean Sea, a flag-bearer of economic stability, which has translated itself in a strong job market, much to the envy of our neighbours.

Labour have five years in front of it to prove itself. Clearly the Government has a head start with a healthy economy, low unemployment rates, sound public finances, and also €1,128,000,000 of EU funds to invest in our economy, and all this thanks to a Nationalist Party in Government.

With a nine-seat majority, Labour can have no excuses. If, notwithstanding, Labour makes a mess of what this country has achieved, then the people will not forgive and will look back at us.

We need to be prepared to take the country forward again, as we had to do after Alfred Sant’s mess in 1998.

Therefore, our task is to be prepared, and to start preparing ourselves from day one, as a credible alternative to the government of the day, coming up with solutions, proposals and objective opposition to a Government which has already shown signs of changing course from its campaign promises.

We need to continue the evolutionary process that has characterised the history of the Nationalist Party, in order to come up with policies and solutions, reflecting tomorrow’s challenges.

We need to think hard about the way Maltese society is evolving, and how it will be looking like in five years’ time. This is crucial if we are to remain relevant.

For that to happen, we need to work hard, together, for a strong party which can transmit credibility and stability. While it is not my intention here to discuss the reasons for defeat, there is no doubt, in my mind, that the people opted against sending to government a party which was bleeding internally.

To restore this credibility, we need to go back to our grassroots, to listen and to understand, to be willing to admit our mistakes and change, to adapt our policies to the realities of the society that surrounds us and to start building a team that can present itself as trustworthy and able to win the people’s trust in the future again.

We have to start by looking within and building the party that will make people proud to be associated with, and to call themselves Nationalists again.

Tonio Fenech is a Nationalist Member of Parliament.

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