On March 10, just a couple of hours after the announcement of the massive victory of the Partit Laburista I wrote a commentary titled “Labour Tsunami.”

In the concluding paragraph I wrote that the Nationalist Party now needs to regroup and re-organise itself. I added: “The choice of a new leader and the top officials of the party provides tough challenges. Recrimination and in-fighting are a distinct possibility. How will the PN surmount these challenges? Only time will tell.”

I wish to return to the argument and try to amplify it.

Lent should make it easier for the PN to do the thing that should be done most at this stage. Its exponents should – symbolically, quite naturally – put on sackcloth and sprinkle their heads with ashes. This is the most dignified and appropriate first reaction to the will of the electorate expressed in the strongest of terms in the election result.

The harbouring of belief that the people got it wrong would be an abysmal mistake. The exercise of deep soul-searching should try to find where the PN in government got it wrong. Just blaming faulty communications strategy would simply not suffice to explain the defeat.

The attempt to explain the defeat only by reference to mistakes on the micro-level of politics would get the PN nowhere. Neither will the search for sacrificial lamb, particularly those introduced in the game when it was already in injury time, will lead no positive results.

The reasons for the defeat are many and varied. However I believe that one of the main causes of the debacle was the inability of the PN to understand and manage well the transformed socio-cultural environment that prevails today in our country thanks to the work of the successive and successful Nationalist administrations. I will just point to a few factors that contributed to this change: the liberalisation of the economy; the pluralism in broadcasting; the placing of democracy on a sound footing; the commercialisation of the print media (possible only because of a strong consumer economy); the devolution of power through the local councils; the accession into the European Union; the popularisation of the Internet. These events and process brought with them, among other things, a strong process of secularisation of culture and of values. The Nationalist administration succeeded to weather the international economic crisis but it did not navigate well enough the changing cultural infrastructure of our changing society.

How will the PN react?

The Partit Nazzjonalista can now try to re-group and re-organise either from above (that is the first step will be the renovation of the leadership) or from below (that is the first step will be the renovation of its grass roots). Let me explain.

If the former strategy is adopted the PN can go through all the motions mentioned in its statute and elect the officials within the timeframe given, which I think it is three months. The position of leader, deputy leader, secretary general and chairs of the administrative committee and the general council will soon be up for grabs. Then the new leadership team will try to re-organise the party and its grass roots. This task could be helped by the conclusions of the group of people who will probably be chosen to analyse the election result and suggest what went wrong.

It seems that this is the strategy that will be adopted. Undoubtedly this strategy has its merits.

The second strategy option has the grass roots as its starting point.

Given the current situation which is the result of an electoral earthquake more than a normal shift in voting preferences, I propose that this strategy should be explored before a definitive decision is taken. I do this as I believe that unusual situations should be treated in an unusual way.

Moreover, the present scenario is different from that of 1996. It was then evident from the very beginning that Government was not too strong. Today we have a very strong government with a massive popular and parliamentary backing.

The PN should not rush. There is no need to rush and there is no gain in rushing.

The following are my two euro cents worth of ideas.

1. Persuade Dr Gonzi to stay on as party leader for the next six months. I do understand that Dr Gonzi will not be overjoyed by this proposal. He has already given to this country of ours and to his party a hefty amount. I hope he will agree to carry the cross of leadership for a few more months even if it means that he will have a very late Easter.

2. Within that timeframe, renew the membership of the PN. Ask members to confirm that they want to confirm their membership. The system of life members is an efficient bureaucratic ploy to facilitate administration but it is not the best way to assure commitment. Probably there are several switchers among the present membership list.

3. Finalise and discuss the first phase of the evaluation of results. This report should not represent the views of the group penning the report but the views of the people who voted. This is why I refer to the first phase. I am sure that a well-researched evaluation would take more than six months.

4. Concurrently start internal discussions about the vision and the mission of the party in the new socio-cultural environment.

5. Set up an ad hoc administrative committee to take care, under the direction of Dr Gonzi, of the day to day running of the party organisation.

6. Change the party statute. I propose two main changes. The three top positions should be elected by the party members and not just by the party councillors. Secondly, the party members should be presented with teams and not individuals, that is, Team A proposing X as a leader, Y as a deputy leader and Z as a general secretary and Team B proposing L, M and N. However, the party members can do cross voting. They have the right to vote for a candidate from one team as the leader and vote for a deputy leader from a different team. Would I be asking too much if I propose that one of the three main posts should be held by a woman?

The PN has an awful lot of talent within its folds. It has what it takes to regenerate itself particularly now that it got rid of those who caused so much mayhem in the pursuit of their massive egoistical ambitions.

I make these proposals in the spirit of what was written by Lino Spiteri in The Times on Monday March 18.

“The need for a strong Nationalist opposition is of more interest than to the party itself. It is of major interest to Malta and, seriously, to the Labour Government.”