One massive electoral defeat for the Nationalist Party can be considered unfortunate given it was in power for so long; two, however, is ominously starting to sound like carelessness. Its leader, Simon Busuttil huffed and puffed but, rather than making Labour’s house sway, yesterday it came crashing down on top of him.

Given all the hard work he has been putting in, on a personal level he did not deserve this. But if he did not know it already, politics can be a very cruel and lonely game.

Lying at the heart of the electoral disaster the PN suffered yesterday is one very fundamental home truth: the party still does not know what it will take to win another election.

Until it does, presuming it does, it is destined for a long exile in the wilderness. This is what happened to the British Conservative Party after it had ruled the UK uninterrupted for 18 years. And even when it did make a comeback, it only did so as a coalition and because British Labour had been in office for three terms with an uninspiring leader at the tail end. It was then time for a change and there really was no alternative.

If the PN wants to get into power sooner than that – though, bar the economy taking a downturn, a 10-year Labour term is already looking like a high probability – it needs to do some serious soul searching.

It must recognise that it needs root and branch change from within and, fundamentally, have a clear idea of where it wants to go. Its decision to abstain on the Civil Unions Bill provided clear evidence that it is some distance away from this.

Worse still, it showed that the party is divided. This led to incoherence which, in turn, led to confusion and apathy among voters.

It is unclear whether Dr Busuttil is able to do anything about this.

The party is hampered by other impediments. Certain people within the PN still possess a siege mentality that refuses to go away. They believe that if they manage to get the media to say what they want them to say, that would become reality. It doesn’t.

Also, whoever is not perceived to be a Labour-hater is subjected to attack in one form or another.

This approach is old-hat and catastrophic because it distracts attention from what is reality.

That the PN is still in such a state is bad for the country. Malta needs a strong opposition, especially when it is being ruled by a government that has a 36,000/nine-seat majority.

More so when this government has ignored with impunity its pre-election battle cries of Malta being for everyone and meritocracy.

Joseph Muscat, showing understandable glee at a stupendous result, said yesterday that his second landslide in the space of 14 months will not go to the party’s head.

Fine words, however, judging by the actions of the government over the past year, there is incontrovertible evidence that it already has.

Dr Muscat and his team have quite expertly mitigated this through target niches of voters they consider important and give them whatever they want to get or keep them on board.

This has come about at the expense of principles but, while the Labour government is in its infancy, principles do not appear to be an adequate substitute for votes.

What is worse is that this country has a party in opposition that is still dreaming of the glory of its past but which is seemingly unable to decide between the two.

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