Over 18 months after it lost the election by a landslide, the Nationalist Party is at long last showing signs of recovery.
In recent weeks, there have been indications of a party moving in the right direction and being on the ball. Party leader Simon Busuttil, deputy leaders Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami as well as others have displayed determination, political ability and, more importantly, connection with the electorate.
The PN took far too long to get over the election defeat – and some elements of the party have still not accepted it – but the work certain individuals have done since to repair the damage appears to be bearing fruit.
It is extremely important in a democracy to have competent and effective Opposition parties to keep the government on its toes. By way of good fortune for the PN, Labour, which up till only a few weeks ago was still riding high on euphoria, is caught up in a crisis of its own making.
The way the PN is tackling the hot issues shows it is on the offensive. This will make the political climate more challenging for the party in government which, with such strong electoral support at the last election, had perhaps thought it would be having an easy ride up to the next election.
In a way, it is the size of its victory at the polls that is doing the most damage to the PL as it appears to believe it is invincible. Within days of being elected, Labour threw overboard the key undertakings it made in the election campaign. The immediate resort to wide-scale political appointments gave an early indication of the type of direction Joseph Muscat has chosen to take.
However, what jolted the government most is the string of cases of political impropriety and sheer political unaccountability. Since the Prime Minister seems to be unable to get to grips with the situation he is facing and to keep his team in check, he is bringing up past misdemeanours of the PN as a form of defence.
However, the time for Muscat to draw comparisons with the last months of the Nationalist administration in office has, frankly, run out and his government now has to start facing the electorate on its own performance in its totality, not just on the economy. In particular, Labour is failing the test in good governance, a matter that had supposedly been at the top of its political agenda before the election.
The stock reply coming from Labour to widespread criticism about wrongdoing is that this or that issue could have been tackled better. However, this is certainly not the way to govern.
Blatant disregard for political accountability is expected to considerably weaken Labour’s standing in the eyes of those who had expected it to chart a new course upon taking over.
If impropriety is not tackled and checked in time, it will introduce further laxity when what is required is greater ethical behaviour.
There have been too many cases of irregularities or wrongdoing, suggesting that power is beginning to erode principles. It is mainly thanks to the Opposition party and the independent media that these have surfaced.
Unless Labour checks its growing hubris in time, it could spell the beginning of its downfall. Its massive support at the polls is not expected to crumble overnight – not even, perhaps, by the next election – however, a return to good governance is needed for the good of the country.