With seven weeks to go till the election the campaign so far has been remarkably civil, possibly even bordering on the boring for some people. However, it is certainly positive that hostility and antagonism have to date been absent from this race, and all parties deserve credit for this.

The great personality clash between Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat that some observers expected to erupt has not yet materialised, and the electorate is better off as a result.

Instead, proposals and policies – mainly on Labour’s side so far – have been the order of the day. Energy policy, and in particular the PL’s energy proposals, have dominated.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and Labour candidate Konrad Mizzi, who launched his party’s energy plans, have hogged the media spotlight. Malta has never witnessed such an intense and detailed debate over energy, which at times has been too technical and a turn-off, but this is nevertheless long overdue.

Although there are a number of question marks over Labour’s energy plans, such as the timeframe for the project and some of the projected costs, the fact that such concrete proposals were submitted is a positive step.

The Nationalist Party and Tonio Fenech in particular have done a good job at knocking holes into some of Labour’s suggestions, but they must now come out with concrete proposals of their own for the energy sector.

While energy is certainly an important issue for voters there are many other subjects and policy areas which need to be discussed such as pension reform, healthcare, education, police reform, irregular migration, climate change, the European Union and foreign policy.

The PN is shortly expected to launch its energy policy and there will inevitably be further energy debates, but the agenda needs to shift elsewhere soon. Without doubt the electorate will before long get bored listening to this subject, irrespective of how concerned they might be about their utility bills.

The Nationalists continue to campaign on their economic record – there is no denying that Malta’s economic indicators are indeed good, even though Standard and Poor’s recent downgrade has highlighted the need to reduce our debt. The PN has focused on the fact that while many eurozone countries have resorted to harsh austerity measures Malta was able to continue investing in health, education and social services due to the country’s sound financial situation.

This argument by the PN is a valid one and worth repeating; however, the Nationalists cannot win this election by only relying on its economic record in government. They must, sooner or later, come up with concrete proposals over how they intend to govern over the next five years, what reforms they plan to introduce and why they believes Labour cannot be trusted with managing the economy.

There is no doubt that the agenda so far in this campaign has been dominated by Labour, which besides its energy proposals has come out with a number of suggestions for political and judicial reforms. The PN, on the other hand, has spent most of the time on the defensive, justifying its record and attacking the PL’s proposals.

The Nationalist strategy seems to be that the length of the campaign allows it keep most of its key proposals for a later stage.

This is a double-edged sword, the risk being that voters would both be bored and have made up their minds before the PN gets going. Is this really a risk it can afford to be taking?