The PN will be setting up a committee to analyse the reasons behind the election result. But will this delve into the electors’ mind? Who can analyse the voters’ mind?

For 17 years before 1987 we had a corrupt Labour government with all kinds of abuses under the sun. Torture and murder took place in our police hewadquarters as well as frame-ups. Political discrimination and interference with our courts were rampant.

We were even deprived of many of our basic needs. Yet, in spite of this disaster the 1987 election came around and the Nationalist Party won by a margin of nearly 5,000 votes.

On the other hand we have had a Nationalist government that changed the face of Malta, giving the people a standard of living never before dreamed of, providing full employment, the best health service and free education for all… and then lost the election by a margin of 35,000 votes. Can anyone understand the minds of the voters?

But one thing becomes clear from these two examples. The power of the media.

In the first case, the Labour Party had a good propaganda machine that knew no bounds and made use of State broadcasting, saving the party from a crushing defeat. And in the second Labour knew what it was doing, helping the party to win by a large margin. This time also, the independent media hammered the Government.

Surely the PN propaganda machine was not in position to counter all this.