Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition leader Bernard Grech have both just marked milestones in their relatively short political careers.

Although the prevailing circumstances do not allow much room for celebration, this week it was Abela’s first anniversary in office and it was also 100 days since Grech became leader of the Nationalist Party and of the opposition.

A lawyer who had never occupied political office, Grech was elected early last October when the party risked implosion if his predecessor, Adrian Delia, remained at the helm. He was a compromise candidate and the gamble to pit only him against Delia paid off.

Grech appears to have made significant inroads, certainly when it comes to his trust ratings compared to his direct political opponent. A poll conducted by MaltaToday found that the level of trust he enjoys is at its highest since he assumed office. In sharp contrast, Abela’s is at the lowest.

The gap between them has narrowed considerably. Significant, though not necessarily desirable, is the fact that Grech is even more popular than his own party.

Also telling is that he enjoys considerable trust among the electorate who had voted Labour in 2017, while the trust Abela enjoys among Nationalist voters is much lower.

This performance comes in spite of a rather unsteady start when it emerged that he had to settle a €30,000 tax bill in overdue amounts and that he had failed to declare a €32,000 income from hosting students, which he blamed the school for.

It later became known that it was Abela who had alerted the taxman. A politician reporting an opponent to the authorities jars in politics.

Abela was, at least, honest in admitting it was he who had filed the report but put his foot in it when he declared he had done his duty in passing on such information. He evidently did not feel it was his duty to do the same with regard to similar instances involving people active on his side of the political fence.

His political immaturity and lack of sufficient action with regard to serious governance and rule of law shortcomings appear to be benefitting Grech. Abela’s comments on the pandemic has not helped the prime minister either, his remarks sometimes seen as dismissive and lacking in empathy.

The MaltaToday survey results should be welcomed by all those who believe in the alternation in power. Still, one swallow does not a summer make and this is even more so in politics.

Grech has, so far, been measured on the basis of his words and the way he is steering the party.

Admitting from the outset that he is not perfect, he said “the people do not want perfection, they want genuineness. They want us to pay attention and to tell the truth”.

He agrees, for example, that a tunnel will make access to Gozo easier but admits “things will change” if the project is carried out. His stand on the sale of passports is that it could be a good way to create investment provided the right balance is struck. Declaring he is against abortion, Grech adds that if a referendum is called his party, whose doctrine is that human life must be protected from conception until death, would participate.

Malta has a duty to save people at sea and being populist does not solve the problem, he warns. Corruption did not start in 2013 but it got “out of hand”, the opposition leader says.

Although coming across as honest, his utterances are often vague. The electorate will expect to see clear stands and new policies on a range of issues from the PN soon.

Turning the tide at the next election is still a tall order but Grech’s mission no longer seems like an impossible one.