Now that the European and local elections are done and dusted, it’s back to business. Or is it? The Labour Party has been faced with an unexpected haemorrhage of votes and Robert Abela’s leadership is coming under close scrutiny, despite winning another set of elections. The Nationalist Party will be holding a rally this morning, presumably to announce to the country it is back in business.
We repeat what we said in our editorial last Monday: no party really won the election – it is the country that won. This electoral shake-up has seen renewed optimism for those advocating for more balanced governance. Thousands of votes also went to independent candidates and third parties, while far-right candidates and conspiracy theorists performed well below expectations.
Labour’s once unassailable lead appears to be under threat, and rightly so. These mid-term elections have highlighted a growing dissatisfaction among the electorate. While the economy remains healthy, it is evident that people’s priorities are shifting.
Labour’s strategy of micro-managing the electorate – catering to individual desires, even through illicit or immoral means – is finally starting to backfire. For every driver who was fast-tracked a licence, countless others are left to wait. For every dubious building permit granted, thousands of households endure the misery of never-ending construction. For every government job handed out to secure votes, many more feel their taxes are being squandered. This cycle of favouritism has fuelled widespread discontent.
Thousands are sending a clear message: they just want a semblance of fairness and integrity, a country where merit, not connections, dictates outcomes; where daily life isn’t overshadowed by disgraceful scandals.
These mid-term elections have highlighted a growing dissatisfaction among the electorate. While the economy remains healthy, it is evident that people’s priorities are shifting
Malta is caught in a paradox. This dichotomy highlights the broader challenge: a desire for quick economic gains clashing with the social and infrastructural pressures they create.
For example, there are clear cracks in our health sector, a source of national pride for decades. Malta’s overpopulation exacerbated the problem, but we face a dilemma – if we had to offload third-country nationals, our health and care sectors could collapse. We complain about migrant workers and yet, without them, sectors like construction will crumble. We want to make a quick buck and yet we complain about the people we are exploiting to make our money. In other words, we created a business model which is unsustainable for a small island state. We wanted to have our cake and eat it.
Meanwhile, Labour’s internal strife is clearly coming to the fore and the blame game has started. Despite Abela’s relatively dignified handling of the election results, he faces substantial hurdles, including persistent scandals and the looming shadow of his predecessor who still enjoys god-like status. The electorate’s disdain for intra-party infighting only complicates his task. History has taught us the electorate rarely rallies behind a fractured party.
In contrast, Bernard Grech has managed (to a large extent) to unite the PN, stepping into the leadership of a party in tatters. His pragmatic approach to the election results – acknowledging there is still a lot of work to do to achieve victory – is a positive step. To be fair, credit also goes to his predecessor Adrian Delia who did not hold any grudges and appears to work for the good of the party.
The fact the PN is seen as a potential alternative government will motivate hundreds of people to the party structures to help.
People naturally gravitate towards a potential winning party. The worst the PN could do is to show signs of arrogance, the same kind of arrogance that condemned it to years in the political doldrums.
It is interesting to see the rising support for independent candidates and third parties, particularly among younger voters, a shift signalling alternatives to the traditional political duopoly. Ultimately it is a battle for the middle ground. Voters often just want basic fairness and justice, not blind partisan loyalty and handouts.