When the pragmatic and charismatic Joseph Muscat was unanimously elected as leader of the Opposition some years back, he took on the new role with style and determination to win over the majority of Maltese and Gozitan citizens... and win he did, with an overwhelming majority too.

Muscat succeeded in his endeavour by first and foremost showing the electorate the true meaning of being a leader of the Opposition.

He never applauded the government but pounced like a vicious tiger on its every single mistake, pricked its every pretension, belittled its every success (if any) and, above all, offered a credible alternative.

As things stand at this particular moment in time, Muscat will almost certainly win the next general election for the second time running.

Undoubtedly, there is a certain amount of enthusiasm among the supporters of the Nationalist Party, however, Simon Busuttil and his deputies need to do more to erase the nine-seat deficit and a 34,000 vote margin won by Muscat and his party.

It’s well and good to be positive and try to convince supporters that in two years’ time the party can make it to government, however, the way ahead is still very doubtful and the Nationalist leadership needs to do more to convince the electorate that they deserve another chance to govern.