Saturday 16 March 2013

Analysis of Defeat.

We have lost . We have lost massively . A crushing defeat . There is no way of denying this .
The people have literally booted us out and told us to get lost . The once proud Nationalist Party is presently at its knees .

What has caused such a massive defeat? what has caused such a massive across-board swing?

The reasons are numerous .What i can say is that major factors which affect the country as a whole, which make the country tick , which ensures progress , what i call the macro elements where discarded from the electorates line of thought . It was useless promoting the fact that Malta fared better than other European countries in terms of economic strength or that unemployment was at a fair percentage or that tourism had another successfully year ,four years in a row . It was also useless promoting major projects especially parks ,restoration works ,Valleta and Mdina rehabilitation and numerous other projects . Eu funds and what was done with these funds major roads ,renewable energy grants ,agriculture and fisheries grants , where also not taken into any consideration.

People chucked us out because of micro factors . All the above have either been taken for granted ,or people are not relating their well being today as a consequence of the above . Instead of a positive feel good factor ..i am what i am today thanks to the economic progress ,there was a negative feel ...i am what i am today because this so- called economic progress has adversely affected my pocket . No one seems to realise that our country's economic well being depends both on money coming from outside ;investments ,tourism etc but also on everyone s ability to help in the economy by working ,paying taxes etc. The fact that we import everything and most prices fluctuate according to external factors and these will in turn affect every ones pockets  are never positively appreciated . Oil ,steel ,copper. gold, maize where all heavily priced four years ago mostly due to the financial crises which lead to price hikes in goods that utilise these products. The ability to avert disaster and massive unemployment during the 2009 financial crises where not taken into account. The ability or inability to turn money losing enterprises into financial stability without actually firing workers where also not taken into consideration . On the contrary ,all of this hurt the people . No one seemed to ask the important question what would have happened if things were the completely opposite ,that is economic stagnation ,increasing deficit ,rising unemployment . What would the scenario be today ?

So what really made people give us the boot ? The perception of an incompetent government. It was useless doing house visits and pointing all of the above because the perception was of a failing,tired ,corrupt,group of people who were only interested in statistics and not the basic needs of the family . The continuous perception of a broken internal executive which day in day out lead to a complete distrust in the basic core of the management of this country. The perception of a Klikka taking over . If each letter of this word has a value in Labour votes you would get a substantial amount add this to the word oligarchy and you would get any even bigger amount .

Then there are major issues which on theory made sense but in practise where a disaster . The insensitive ARMs and occasional haphazard issuing of bills and the hikes in these bills , the transport saga and resultant Arriva disaster , the power station and energy dilemma where people were left believing more in Labour s arguments than Governments policy coupled with a perception of corruption . Air Malta and its massive restructuring which hurt hundreds of people not because they were made redundant ,on the contrary some were given a good lump sum of money and managed to open up business but the fact that their stable job was finished . MEPA which was a continuous topic in the house visits .An entity which i suspect adjusts its own rules and regulations every day .Mater Dei and its waiting lists ,waiting times ,Casualty problems, out of stock medication to which i could mention plausible reasons why this has occurred but will not help the patient affected .Then there were social issues which also affected parts of the population ,the Divorce issue , gay right movement ,the hunters issues ;all these were craftily taken by Labour with open arms.

My conclusion is a government which achieved plenty for the country but failed to address middle management issues and basic client focused priorities .

The way forwards is actually not so difficult . We need to change to get rid of the bad perception . This will be done by getting new people with new ideas and new management skills and restructuring our party from top to bottom . It will not be difficult because we have the people who want this new change and who want to participate  .We will be a constructive opposition and will keep the government on its toes .It has promised everything to everyone and we will be there at its heels if it does not deliver .

The Nationalist Party has a glorious history behind it and even now in defeat it can still be proud of achieving things no other country could have ever dreamt of achieving ,countries which are begging to be saved .  History will judge whether Labour was the right choice .History will judge whether Lawrence Gonzi 10 year statesmanship was a a blessing for  this country and whether its abrupt end was a disaster for Malta .
We close a chapter and open a new one . Malta must move on. We must move on .



15 comments:

  1. no matter how big the boot was, Lawrence Gonzi must not stop giving his energy to this party. I have felt I have been given the boot as a Maltese Citizen just months before I had to cast my vote, but it was just too tough to let myself get angry and throw my vote on other views, knowing all the nationalist party's history.

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  2. Good reflection, but i think the major factor was loss of credibility in Lawrence Gonzi. His vote against the people's will in the divorce referendum triggered it off. Then, defending Austin Gatt in the Arriva fiasco was a mistake. The other internal disputes with FD & JPO obviously did not help. To make things worse they were appearing every week on ONE attacking LG (and they still are). Nonetheless, a 36K defeat is definitely unfair for a Government which gave a strong economy to a small island during a European recession.

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  3. Well said. I agree 100 percent. Unfortunately it seems all Dr Law. Gonzi was not appreciated for all he did for our country, Having made it through such rough times and continuios obstacles and problems local and international ones. God Bless him for all he has done for our country and us all. Let's hope the right choice for the top most people in our party is made, Let us not rush to decide. Maybe there is someone out there, even a new face that can help us , get back to continue, working hard although from the opposition side, to help us make it through the next election, One thing for sure is , it seems people want to be listened to, and feel close to politicans. Good luck to you all.

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    1. i agree totally dr lawerence gonzi shouldnt be critized as he did to keep malta from disatry

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  4. As an EX PN voter i agree with some parts of your reflections.But to many wrong have been done in the past legislation. We were asked to sacrifice and they got €500 a week increase.High energy bills, long waiting lists, and all the above that you have mentioned. I casted my vote not to MLP but to the movement that JM had managed to build around him.JM has made me believe in him so i decided to give him a shot. I do strongly believe he will deliver.

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  5. 100% agreed, however i must include some points which i feel that made this 2013 election a huge success for the labour so-called movement and a disaster for the nationalist party.

    - the pn election strategy did not work out as in previous elections, actually, the mistakes done by the pn strategists were the same mistakes the 'old' labour strategists made in past elections. this election's pn campaining was heavily dependant on accusations & mentioning of the past. if you take into consideration the pl's campaign, it started with accusations in the first part, and in the remaining part, it heavily bombarded the 'lets work together' ideology (which the majority of yound voters and 'floating' voters wanted to hear)
    - our then pm dr l gonzi was working too much on the international sphere to steer our country from disaster (which i fully agree) while some in our country's management were doing their business and hence the 'klikka' formation mentioned earlier
    - some areas of local justice / law enforcement were just 'non-existant'
    - the new generation of voters, the so called 'floaters' and 'young votes' are not the type of 'ghamilli pjacir' voters. in my opinion, they are the type of voters that wanted to see new and young faces leading

    obviously, as we say in maltese 'wara kulhadd bravu', but i needed to point the above out. i myself am a liberal-nationalist supporter, in the past i voted 'for' the divorce referendum. i need to see my party return, and propose / forward an 'ideal' line-up of candidates and strategists to keep the current government (as mentioned) on 'its toes'. from seeing the elected candidates of both parties, one could observe that there were a good number of young / new faces and that the majority of old-timers were left out of the representatives room, for me this has one meaning, that the electorate were fed-up with the 'old' way of national politics and wanted new ideas / energy to govern this country.

    i beleive in the party that transformed malta from an ageing economy to one of the most dynamic economies in the med area and still beleive that in the future, it will regain the lost trust of the once nationalist supporter.

    time will tell whether this election's outcome was the right one for our country. as i beleiver, if the government fares well it will be for the good of all the maltese and our country, on the contrary, if the government steers us into turmoil, then well, it will be for all of us.

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  6. Dear Dr. M. Gonzi,

    In my opinion the people want visionaries, leaders/candidates with new smart ideas and concepts. People want something to dream about, they don't want to hear about the past or what has already been achieved (it's taken for granted as you said). They want a leader who not only listens but also understands and takes action.

    JM managed to give this impression till now, and if he manages to prove this in the next 5 years he will rightly remain there for long. I hope for the PN that the right changes are made, we don't want to end up with the same old politics anymore.

    Thanks,
    A PN voter

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  7. Whoever is saying that they voted PL because LG gave a €500 increase per week to his cabinet is an arrogant selfish person. Ministers dedicate their personal life to politics, they work 7 days a week and very long hours. If they had remained working in their private profession instead of giving their life to politics I'm sure they would have earned much more. Unfortunately people in Malta are still very ignorant and they have no respect. They say Malta Taghna Lkoll but they still think that the Government is there to satisfy their personal needs.

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  8. The water & electricity saga and all that went with it including ARMS, BWSC, the oil scandal, Arriva and anything Austin Gatt related were prime factors. Internal Party strife being brushed under the carpet plus a haughty attitude by Party officials didn't help.

    In short PN was more concerned with fooling itself than reaching out to its people. Muscat was striking the right chords while we were adopting a pathetic strategy and were too proud to admit it!

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  9. the PN should be proud that it created wealth but should be ashamed that it did not distribute it well!! It's useless tapping millions from the EU but then offer 800-900 euro a month jobs to qualified workers while the chunk of money go to a few people's pocket!! That is not futur fix-sod!!

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  10. Actually, your post illustrates the attitude that cost you the election. You seem to think that you lost because the electorate was too stupid to see the big picture - they were swayed by meaningless little things ("micro factors") and didn't see the important ones ("macro elements"). You talk of people's "perceptions" - as if there weren't any real problems that the administration ignored for years - similarly betrays a supercilious and arrogant attitude that pervaded many of the top people in the party. No, the problems were there and the glitter being thrown about liberally in the last year or so did nothing to hide them.

    If the people running the show - including Lawrence Gonzi - had climbed down from their proud pedestal and actually listened to what people were saying, instead of ignoring them or acting as though the citizens were being ungrateful for wanting more, maybe many of the problems would have been avoided. MaltaRightNow put up a post on their facebook page asking people to answer this very question: What cost PN the election? There are hundreds of answers. Of course there's also many posts from PN supporters, licking the party's wounds. Ignore those and listen to the many people posting the real reasons. THAT is where you should look for answers - not from the very same people responsible for the problems in the first place.

    I wrote some of my own views about this on Facebook. You may agree or disagree, you can ignore them or take them into account, but I wrote them because I want to see PN rebuild itself into a strong and modern party again.

    https://www.facebook.com/notes/ramon-casha/it-telfa-elettorali-tal-pn/10151803351204488

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  11. Micheal
    I will not go into the Lawrence Gonzi Administration as that speaks for itself and no one can deny the fact that had it not been for his excellent management at such a bad time, only God knows where we are. The shame about it all is that while Gonzi was struggling in the storm and brought the ship ashore safely. There was not even a gang way for him to come to shore.

    The arrogance of the Prtit Nazzjonalista was so evident that many long term Nazzjonalisti felt unwanted.
    The arrogance of the ministries complimented it
    Many Goverment bodies were inefficient and unhelpful to say the least
    MEPA needless to mention
    The country seemed to be going to the 1980's in many different aspects
    I will only correct one comment from your analyses. Nobody kicked out the Gonzi Goverment.
    BUT THE PARTIT NAZZJONALISTA AND GONZI GOVERMENT KICKED OUT THE NAZZJONALISTI.
    To add injury to insult 2008 election results followed by all other elections was a clear message of what to come. The party & Goverment had no time for the people. Not all people want a favour some want an answer, and a HELLO would have helped half way. YES_NO_ I TRY would have solved the other half. But all there seem to be is BUGGER OFF U FOOL.

    SO MIcheal when there is a next time, remember that people are not moaners. But living beings.

    AND BY THE WAY DON'T THINK OF REBUILDING. FIRST DEMOLISH AND CLEAN
    OLD SOLDIER

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  12. Dear Michael - there is one, in my humble opinion fundamental, word missing from your Analysis. "Media". One cannot underestimate the crucial role of the media in PN's defeat. You rightly say:"So what really made people give us the boot ? The perception of an incompetent government." And I would add...that very perception of an incompetent/corrupt government was being strongly fomented by the media, especially the so-called "independent", English language media which is typically read by the floating voter. Undoubtedly, the very issues that people frequently mention as being responsible for PN's downfall, e.g. honoraria, divorce, backbencher revolt, powerstation, oil scandal, were the one constantly dominating the headlines. The media set the agenda. People would buy a Sunday newspaper and read heaps upon heaps of negativity against the government. All the major achievements of Gonzi & his team were relegated to small print in the insider pages. I do not think it is a coincidence that Joseph Muscat was 'caught' exchanging emails with an RTK journalist and encouraging her to 'infiltrate' into media organisations...
    Now, the Editors of such media are accusing Gonzi and his team of "not engaging" with the media. Perhaps. In hindsight, Gonzi reasoned wrongly that people would judge him on his achievements on not on what they are being told by the media. (the media is after all the main source of information to an individual about what is happening in the country - I may state the obvious, but it underscores its importance!).

    Many floaters, many Nationalist voters, many youngsters perhaps, turned against the establishment that was being presented to them every day by the media.

    I think this is a fact, and worth reflecting about.

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  13. Dear Michael-you seem to ignore that 17,000 (was it?) new voters joined the fray. Most young people go for the person and not the party- I agree with them. Labour movement produced a media link which created a positive atmosphere, as did AD. There was always a "thank you for your time". PN only menaced and ignited old memories, a negative attitude, and I don't believe you cottoned on to the importance of the internet. The last ads in the Times of Malta were atrocious-quite scandalous, really. Who wants to vote for a grumpy and arrogant party?
    I only wish that AD had obtained more votes. We would then be heading towards a better democracy and ensure that abuse of power is avoided. X'taghmel!

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  14. Dr. Gonzi,

    I have a;ways respected you as a professional and as a person. But I never enjoyed your brother's leadership in the party, that I am sorry to say. During his tenure, I lost my faith in the Nationalist Party and I voted PL because I was sick of the situation. The following are my reasons for having voted against PN:

    - The sheer arrogance of certain ministers and party officials
    - The clique and the arrogant elitist attitude. Get rid of them!
    - The attitude of PN government treating people as idiots, with an illusionist attitude that anything you did you were not accountable for
    - The 500 Euro rise. It is irrelevant for me that this was relinquished. The simple fact that it even passed through your minds during a period of recession, whilst giving out a pittance to us spoke volumes of the arrogance of PN
    - The fake consultations. I well remember the staged 'consultations' in the school I work, hours of discussion only to realise and having the government official admitting that everythinf was already arranged and that our suggestions were useless!
    - The rampant corruption and incompetence of MEPA. Where is the environmental protection? All I see is more concrete in the countryside and the urban fabric of our lovely villages bulldozed and replaced with souless apartment blocks
    - A parrot, charlatan and propagandist clique member in the national TV station
    - Ministers who flatly refused to pay VAT for services rendered
    - Alienation of Nationalists and preference for Labourites with the false hope that you get votes from them
    - Malta slowly being taken over by foreigners, and the PN government only encouraging this tide. We DO NOT have the luxury of land space, this is something we cannot afford to do
    - The shameful waiting times at Mater Dei Hospital. Inhumane attitude towards patients - making old, dying people sleep in the corridors on a stretcher - absolutely disgusting and inhumane. On top of that, a huge proportion of staff is foreign (not even EU) who really don't give a red cent of the quality of service they give
    - Corruption. No it wasn't a perception. The corruption was there in broad daylight

    Until PN addresses these issues and clean itself up from the muck, I'm so sorry, no vote from me!

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