Editorial

In Saturday's local council elections, Labour is hoping to win the same majority it won three years ago, 52.2 per cent. At least this is what its general secretary, Jason Micallef, told The Times the other day and, indeed, on the basis of a collection of factors, there is little doubt the MLP would not be able to reach, or even, surpass this target.

True to form, the Nationalists seem to be relying too much on the notion that it is almost inevitable for a party in power to go through such a bad phase as that they are facing now at this stage of their term in office. This may very well be true; it is certainly not abnormal for a party in government to go through a spell of unpopularity, particularly if it is in the process of carrying out, or promoting, restructuring and taking measures that may hit the people in some way or other.

However, as the situation stands today, it looks as if the Nationalists do need to get their act together, for although as a party it is still far better than Labour, in that at least it has a sense of direction, it is making far too many mistakes. In short, in the opinion of an increasing number of people, it is simply not performing well.

When, contrary to all expectations, Labour won a seat more than the PN in the European parliamentary elections last June, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had gone on record saying that the first message he read in the election's outcome was that the electorate wanted the government to work better. He argued then that possibly the government needed to explain its decisions more effectively.

He more or less used the same argument recently when he kicked off the party's campaign for the local elections. When asked what had changed in the Nationalist administration since June, Dr Gonzi said his party was now making it a point to explain in a better way the reasons behind each of its decisions. Yet, even on this score alone, they have often failed to do this well enough.

Most people have been against the party's decision to withdraw four candidates from two localities in Saturday's elections. In doing this, the party has, quite uncharacteristically, denied voters in Marsa and Zejtun the opportunity of exercising their right to vote. In resorting to this political strategy, the party has shot itself in the foot. It has seriously underrated the people's intelligence and hurt the feelings of their own supporters, particularly in the two localities where they have withdrawn the candidates.

So, in the wake of this faux pas, and of other wrong turnings in the general performance of the government, Labour and maybe Alternattiva Demokratika too, may stand to make greater gains than they did last time. Another negative outcome for the Nationalists may just be the bitter pill they badly need to take right now to make them realise it is time to revamp their collective action.

For the party that has introduced this devolution of political power through the local councils, it is ironic that its fortunes at the polls are taking a beating. Labour may well also find that as they bask in the glory of the political inroads they are making, they have not invested enough in meaningful contributions to the national wellbeing to raise their credibility level up to a point that would make the electorate vote for them in a general election.