I’ve been accused of many things since this column took a “political” turn a few years ago, many too nasty to be publishable. When I was called a filthy liberal several times, my closest friends had a field day because I’ve always been considered to be the more conservative of the bunch and they’d been trying to convert me for years.

One particular article I wrote about domestic violence even brought in someone accusing me of breaking up families. I knew from the get-go what sticking my neck out week after week would mean for me and those closest to me and, yet, I still do it.

We live in a time where the truth has become a topic of debate. It is no longer enough to present facts or to hold people up to a standard. It is the court of public opinion that matters and what the polls keep telling us month after month is that, despite years of shady deals and even shadier defences for those deals, our reigning government is set to go on reigning when we go to the polls sometime very soon. Not only that but the gap between one party and another is projected to grow wider than ever before.

This is of grave concern. It’s not of grave concern because it’s a Labour government and not a Nationalist one: it’s of grave concern because any state without a stable opposition is at risk of becoming a totalitarian one.

We have to be realistic about the situation we are in. The Nationalist Party has been a mess for some time. It took years and copious amounts of energy to oust the inept former party leader who many felt completely alienated from  and who seemed more suited to the benches of the opposing side. Ever since he has been gone, there seems to be no plan and no proper direction being put forward. There is an air of shell shock.

To stand up and be counted when the chips are down and take part in what many consider to be a suicide mission is, if nothing else, admirable- Anna Marie Galea

Despite all the new, passionate talent they have, even the Nationalist Party diehards are not sure where things are going and have now resorted to saying that, if they do vote, it will mostly be to make sure that a two-thirds majority is not reached by the Labour Party in parliament, a veritable catastrophe when it comes to passing laws and the proper democratic process.

It is part of the reason I welcomed the news that Chris Peregin is going to help with the PN’s strategy because, well, it is much needed. To give up something that you built magnificently in favour of something that needs to be rebuilt is far from easy. To stand up and be counted when the chips are down and take part in what many consider to be a suicide mission is, if nothing else, admirable.

Would I rather that both main parties ceased to dominate the political sphere, and that we could start afresh? Yes and yes. But that is not where we are at in history. Despite the very many misgivings I have about the way parties are run and voters are educated, the most immediate thing that needs to be done is to stabilise the country.

All that we can hope for is that the fight to dismantle party propaganda machines on both sides of the house will continue and will put our voters in better positions to make choices that are good for the country instead of their personal political gods. May we all find the strength to stand up and be counted when our country needs us.