The fine weather outside belied the unstable outlook for the political season that lies ahead as Parliament opened yesterday. Behind the camaraderie and hand-shaking as MPs took their places lies deep mistrust between the two sides of the House following a highly acrimonious election campaign, fuelled in large part by the failure of Joseph Muscat to fulfil his pledges of good governance.

Yet, while there was plenty of lip service paid to the need for unity, with the word used several times in a short speech, the word governance was mentioned not once by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, as she read from the address prepared for her by the government.

While it was commendable that there was a deliberate attempt to steer clear of any sense of partisanship, which so marred the same occasion in 2013, a reference to the principle of accountability and meritocracy – in the context of scrutiny by Parliament of those occupying high positions in regulatory authorities – was not enough.

The President did not reassure a vast body of the electorate, who expressed lack of trust in the government at the last election, that it will act honestly, fairly and transparently in all its dealings, and that the institutions, foremost of which the police, will from now treat everyone equally before the law.

These are the things that need to be done before the President’s fine sounding words, of a change of culture and mentality and a process of unity, can bear fruit.

There was hope, though, in the revival of Labour’s 2013 pledge to renew the Constitution, in the interest of strengthening democracy and “modernising our national institutions, making them more accessible and accountable to the people”. It is to be hoped that no obstacles will stand in the way of embarking in earnest on this process. The government and the Opposition must drop all petty differences that might exist and grasp this historical opportunity to introduce a proper separation of powers, to remove government control from  every constitutional body, ensure unconstitutional laws are annulled and give small parties a greater chance of being elected to Parliament, among other badly needed reforms.

The role of a strong Opposition is going to be crucial, especially because it has raised so much awareness of the need for change in this area.

However, uncertainty abounds here too. The PN now needs to urgently recover from the bitter defeat of its campaign for better governance – which this newspaper fully endorsed and will continue to endorse.

With the support of 44 per cent of the electorate, any talk of it being on the verge of collapse should be immediately dismissed.  However, observers are right to question what has happened to the once mighty and efficient PN electoral machine which used to keep in such close contact with voters. A re-think of how the party operates on a district and street level is therefore certainly in order.

Another challenge for the new PN leadership is to reconcile its conservative and liberal wings, which in the past co-existed well. Something of a rift was in evidence yesterday as information emerged of discontent over the party’s intention to vote for amendments to the law in order to allow gay marriage.

Indeed, including gay marriage in the PN electoral platform appeared like a desperate attempt to look as ‘liberal’ as Joseph Muscat’s Labour Party.  Most issues of this nature are best left to the conscience of individual MPs and the PN should allow its members a free vote in Parliament when such matters are being debated.

The new party leadership is also going to have to address the challenge of having two Democratic Party members, Marlene Farrugia and Godfrey Farrugia, forming part of the PN’s parliamentary group. More clarity is needed on how this partnership is going to work in practice.

Meanwhile, Simon Busuttil deserves the thanks of many for doing his utmost to make the PN a more inclusive party based on sound principles of honesty, integrity and good governance.

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