While the Prime Minister continues playing out his solo act, he has unwittingly boxed himself into a corner - by not only distancing himself from his senior ministers but also by rebuilding the Nationalist Party in his own image in a manner that carries a personality cult to extremes that does not say much about his self-professed new style of doing politics.
We have got to the stage where, when sticky environmental issues are discussed on TV, the PN decides to have itself represented by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly rather than the serving Minister for the Environment and Rural Affairs. On the other hand, people could not help notice that when the MLP chose to discuss the corruption issue in a Broadcasting Authority TV debate, gonzipn deliberately refrained from sending any of its serving ministers to stand up for themselves and instead chose to send backbenchers who have never occupied any ministerial post.
The Labour Party has approached this election as a team, more unified than ever, while providing adequate media space and attention to both main spokesmen who are the equivalent of shadow ministers as well as other spokesmen.
Wherever the leadership appeared it was not only flanked by all electoral candidates but even found space for its local council candidates who will be contesting the March 8 election.
Labour has long realised that. while through his actions gonzipn is showing that he considers most ministers an embarrassment and an albatross hanging around his neck, in its case Labour gives adequate space and opportunity to all types of candidates - be they experienced or up and coming.
Ultimately, any government will not be judged by age profiles but by the innovativeness and creativity of its policies as well as by its performance when in office.
In the past, gonzipn used to ask us to judge by his achievements and not by his words alone. Now we are being told that the people should judge the PN in terms of its manifesto promises. How can we when a number of them date back to unfulfilled electoral pledges of even two decades ago?
No matter what media spinners might say - particularly those with vested commercial interests who never had it so good as they did under this government - Labour has a coherent prescription for how to take the country forward. It is based on improving one's purchasing power, one's quality of life and one's family quality time.
We are proud to have signed up to consensus in financial services in the mid-1990s from the opposition benches - something we have sustained throughout since then. But our - and even my own - appeals for consensus in foreign affairs and ICT have fallen on deaf ears.
It is useless for government members to boast of such consensus when we are together on delegations abroad and then have serving ministers and the PM himself refraining from committing themselves to such consensus when we happen to be on election eve. This can only imply or suggest that this consensus will be broken the moment a change in government takes place and the powers that be end up on the opposition benches.
When Labour speaks of a new beginning, it has in mind a new lease of life for the country. It has no intention of reinventing the wheel capriciously. There are enough public statements to go by that confirm that we shall build on the positives of any previous Administration and remedy matters and issues that have been mishandled while injecting new ideas and proposals that are feasible and are guided by common sense.
The days of the class struggle have long been dead and buried. But then a tolerant and socially just society cannot afford people trying to resort to class hatred by suggesting that Labour are a crass and ignorant lot and that it was pointless of Labour having a ballerina on one of its billboards when hardly any Labourite has ever sent its children to ballet! This is a perverted type of snobbism that goes far beyond merely pitting one party against another.
All those of goodwill who are willing to contribute positively to the implementation of our manifesto when in government will be given every opportunity to do so.
Not only shall we alleviate those segments of society that have suffered most, financially and economically, under a government that cannot distinguish between social justice and mere number crunching economic growth figures, but opportunities will be there for all. All those who have succeeded in their endeavours so far will be allowed to continue to grow and prosper further in future.
State intervention is now passè. The government will merely serve as a catalyst for change and a facilitator to give the private sector even more space to promote and implement its initiatives.
We can only do so by working together and not allowing ourselves to be sidetracked by those who are only good at creating and predicting nightmare scenarios.
The unwarranted fear factor that has been instilled by design in recent months and weeks will in the coming days prove to be not enough to mitigate, neutralise or reverse the Maltese and Gozitan citizens' yearning for change. People have realised they want to be governed by a party that, in spite of any faults it might have, is one of depth, values, insight and strategic thinking.
The electorate will not be fooled.
Mr Brincat is a Labour candidate for the ninth and 10th districts.