Times of Malta - 01/07/2017
Question time: Why the Nationalists lost
The Nationalist Party has suffered two huge electoral defeats. What is wrong with it?
Mark Anthony Sammut, PN Local Councillor
While the 2013 election defeat was, by and large anticipated, given the long time the Nationalist Party h - ad spent in power, the infighting that blotted its final legislature and the renewal of the Labour Party, the heavy defeat suffered in 2017 took everyone by surprise.
Unfortunately, the party was not realising that, while a number of Labour supporters were joining the anti-corruption cause being pushed by the PN, another swathe of voters who had always supported the PN were defecting to Labour.
There were various factors which led to this. First and foremost, the fact that the economy was still doing well and creating a feel-good factor among the general population. Secondly, the power of incumbency was being used to its utmost.Nationalist voters were targeted and given the permits they had always been refused, backdated promotions they felt they were due and government jobs for them or their children. This was enough for them and their families to switch to Labour. But it would be too simplistic to attribute two consecutive heavy defeats solely to the luck of a booming international economy and very cheap oil prices and the extensive abuse of the powers of government.
The PN needs a lot of soul-searching to correct what it has been doing wrong if it is to win again the trust of the majority. Below are just a few points for reflection.
First of all, it needs to understand that while the values of good governance and the fight against corruption remain valid and important, for the many people who struggle to make ends meet, other bread and butter issues are more of a priority.
It does not necessarily mean that those who voted Labour agree with corruption. But it could mean they either felt the PN was still unable to tackle this issue or that their life still had a bigger probability of improving with the continuation of a Labour government than with returning the PN to power.
And this is the political narrative which, unfortunately, the PN lost and needs to rediscover.
Throughout its years in power, the PN was the party which inherited a third world country and transformed it and modernised its economy, changing it from one based solely on low-end manufacturing to one based on tourism and services, injecting high quality and high paying jobs. It was the party that introduced civil, social and political liberties, opened up education and improved employment rights.
Unfortunately, it did not manage to explain that the unpopular decisions during its last legislature were not made because it was sadistic but because it had to face the worse international recession of the last century and it was thanks to those decisions that Joseph Muscat inherited a strong and fruitful economy, ready to exploit the now booming economic reality. It allowed Muscat to take the credit for the economic success our country is experiencing.
But the biggest challenge the party faces in my opinion is that its media and political organisation are not managing to deliver its message in a sectorial, targeted manner.
While national issues being raised by the party are strong and important and are the pillars of a properly-functioning democracy, in today’s deluge of information you need to be able to segment your audience and deliver a message that directly resonates with the individual’s interests.
The new administration that will be elected to lead the party needs to make this a priority for the country to have a strong, effective Opposition that is quick to react and to propose policies addressing today’s fast-changing realities.
I am very optimistic the PN will find the right people, both young and old, new and experienced, who, together, will form a great team and lead it back to being the main driver of our country’s democratic and economic progress. I look forward to giving my all in helping it renew itself.
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