In any democratic country, the role of the opposition is to highlight the government’s failures, offer credible solutions to these failures and convince the electorate that, if elected, it would serve the country more effectively.
Democracy thrives when people have a real choice between at least two credible alternatives. Still, today many voters feel they have no real preference on which political party they can trust to lead them in the coming years.
The number of people disillusioned with the Labour administration’s inability to deal with governance failures, lack of political will to enforce civic regulations and unwillingness to reform the economic model to make it sustainable is increasing.
A well-organised opposition party would generally see its support surge when it is increasingly evident that the government is faltering just 10 years after being voted to power with a massive majority. Still, many feel that the Nationalist Party (PN) still lacks credibility when projecting itself as an alternative government.
The violent incident on the Ħamrun’s patron saint feast, when a PN supporter was ‘severely beaten’ when accompanying his leader, Bernard Grech who was refused entry to the party’s club, is a distressing confirmation of the tribal streaks in the local political parties’ mindset.
There is still time for the PN to change its organisation and communication strategy
Since when is a barman entitled to refuse entry to the club to his leader while his friend is beaten up because ‘he stuck his neck out’ to protest against this uncivil behaviour?
The PN leadership and its communication machine added to the mistrust many, including traditional PN supporters, have in the party’s ability to project itself as an alternative government. The party issued no convincing statement immediately to condemn this abusive behaviour by a barman and a few thugs who believe they are above the law.
The PN broke its silence five days after the incident, issuing a one-line statement informing the country that it had “temporarily closed” its Ħamrun club.
The PN leader often tells the people that “the country deserves better”. He will do well to start showing that he has plans to achieve this objective by fist taking convincing action in his own party against those who resort to criminal or even unsocial behaviour.
Fatima Mifsud Bonnici, the wife of the person seriously injured in this disgraceful incident, is correct when she says: “My husband felt it was not fair that the party leader is not allowed to walk into one of the party’s own clubs.” Any decent person who believes in the importance of good civic behaviour must agree with this statement.
The government’s lack of convincing strategies to promote the well-being of the community is being eased by a weak opposition that projects itself as a clan riddled with infighting, inability to take a clear stand on divisive issues and hoping to be elected by default rather than by convincing the electorate that it has better options than a tired, rudderless government.
There is still time for the PN to change its organisation and communication strategy. But it must take decisive action to show the increasingly sceptical electorate that the PN is not just the lesser of two evils but a force of change that can and will reverse the decline in the quality of life of many people who feel the Labour administration has let them down.