Editorial: Heaven forbid we upset a voter

Last October, the Times of Malta editorial wrote: “As the next general election in Malta approaches, we can expect our political leaders to try to curry favour with the electorate by making promises of what they can deliver if elected to govern the country for the next five years.”

And yet the campaigning over the past weeks was most notable for the areas that were not tackled, whether the implications of illegal hunting or the regulations for fireworks factories. Even the Malta Ranger Unit ended up ‘in a bin’ on a carcading vehicle, with no public recrimination in spite of this shameful attack on enforcement.

However, there was another aspect in this campaign which jars with an outcome that had been predicted for some time. The incumbent government did not only plaster roadsides with billboards promising manna from heaven, it also went out of its way to ensure that no government agencies muddied voter intentions with anything that might affect even one of them.

One area where the statistics prove the point is planning, with Times of Malta showing how the number of permit refusals dropped sharply before the 2026 general election – just as they had before the 2022 one.

During the final two weeks of the 2026 campaign, the PA approved 248 applications and refused just four, a refusal rate of 1.6% of all applications considered – including those withdrawn or dismissed. Compare this with the five-year average calculated from PA data of 7% – which was the case between January-to-March.

Heaven forbid we end up with potentially disgruntled voters, who might withhold or change their vote if their permits were refused!

It was another example of the way that the Labour government used its power of incumbency during the electoral campaign? Will international institutions scrutinise the litany of state announcements and fiscal schemes, whose timing worked so skilfully in the context of the campaign?

Should we overlook the delay in announcing projects till they could gain partisan brownie points? Or other projects which were speeded up for the same photo opportunity reason?

The election of the Labour Party for a fourth term is unprecedented but there is no way to know whether the next term – and the narrower majority – will put pressure on the government to avoid the nepotism, direct orders, appointment of incompetents and other ‘favours’ that have stained its otherwise good performance sheet.

We deserve more governance, more accountability, less interference by Castille in the day-to-day running of its entities. Over the past decades, the country invested heavily in many systems to streamline its systems, from paying fines to applying for permits. It is unacceptable that we allow the rules to change, ignored or twisted once an election is called. 

The incumbent needs to adopt a ‘hands-off’ approach across all public entities and allow them to act according to their mandate if they are ever to build up public trust.

During the campaign, Times of Malta received many reports from different sources claiming interventions by public entities aimed at winning over disgruntled voters. Some of them we did report, others we could not prove.

But the reports were common: from promises of jobs to postponement of enforcement and the sudden acceleration of pending permits. That such allegations continue to surface in 2026 should alarm anyone who cares about good governance.

Public entities should never be extensions of a political party's campaign machine. They are funded by taxpayers and entrusted with applying rules fairly and consistently. It is disgraceful to know connections and threats made on the eve of an election matter more than principles. It’s a shame that votes matter more than rules.