The year 2015 is coming to an end. Soon it will become a reference point in history files. Unfortunately, it was not a vintage year for peace on earth. This was the year of Isis, terror and mass migration. Over the course of this year, the forced movement of people reached levels not witnessed since World War II.

Despite the magnitude of the problem, many countries chose to look the other way. We collectively ignored the plight of millions of displaced people until we saw a photo of a dead Syrian boy washed up on a shore. His innocence made our guilt stand out. His face, half hidden in the sand, made us want to bury ours in shame. We looked at him and knew we could no longer look away.

That is, until terrorists diverted our attention to their warped agenda. This was the year when we went from “Je suis Charlie” to seeing populist support for the re-erection of Checkpoint Charlies all over the European Union.

So yes, it was on many accounts a messed-up year. But it did close on a positive note. The Paris climate change accord will hopefully steer us away from the highway to environmental hell on which we have been gleefully travelling.

On the local front, the year will also be remembered for the wrong reasons. The Labour government wasted government resources, public land and public monies for dubious reasons.

It was the year when Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wasted the most precious resource of all: the unprecedented level of trust and faith afforded him by the electorate. When it comes to good governance, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the country is in a race to the bottom.

But the year did finish on a positive note for those wishing and hoping for a different style of politics in Malta. The set of proposals launched by the Nationalist Party in the document Restoring Trust in Politics have the potential for becoming a blueprint for a new way of governing this country.

These proposals are national rather than Nationalist proposals. Many of them were drawn up outside the party structures. Indeed, some of them were not readily or easily accepted by all and sundry within the party.

But after much internal debate, the PN adopted the document and its far-reaching proposals. The party, by virtue of this document, is making one thing clear: when it comes to good governance, there should, there will, there can be no half measures. Every status quo will be challenged. Every status quo needs to be challenged. We want, we need, to give and devolve more power back to the people.

Every status quo needs to be challenged

The Labour government, through its opaque dealings and disregard for meritocracy and accountability, has unwittingly given the Nationalist Party the focus it needed. The party works best when it is on a mission.

We saw this happen during the drive for Malta’s independence, during the battle to re-establish full democracy in Malta and on the path towards Malta’s accession to the European Union.

Our country is now facing a new challenge. People are losing faith in the way our country is run. This is both unfortunate and dangerous.

We can and should discard politicians who fail to deliver or who misuse their status as representatives of the people. But we cannot and should not lose faith in the system of governance. It is a system which, in the short period since Independence, has helped our country grow and prosper.

It is not a perfect system. We need to take our democracy to a new level. We need to make sure that politicians serve the people and not the other way round. That is the essence of this document.

Some might have reservations about the PN’s ability to deliver on this front. Some will ask why now and not in the past four PN legislatures?

The truth is that our country made huge strides on the economic and social fronts under the PN, but more, perhaps much more, could have been done on issues which this document is raising and addressing.

Halfway through a legislature, the PN in opposition is coming out with concrete proposals, which will be included in the electoral manifesto unless this government decides to act on them before.

Should that be the case, the PN would not feel cheated. It would feel satisfied for having once again contributed to the well-being of this country.

This being my last Talking Point for this year, I wish all readers a happy Christmas and prosperous new year.

Mario de Marco is the deputy leader of the Nationalist Party.