Election Desk: Everyone is locked in, but Imperium is locked out of Instagram

Welcome to the Election Desk. This is where we will round up the major headlines of the day, together with some of the more light-hearted and funnier sides of the campaign trail. 

Busy days, but not for the PN: It was a jam-packed day yesterday. The Labour Party released more proposals in the morning, held a second press conference in the afternoon, and then went to Gozo for an evening interview.

ADPD released its full candidate list, with one on each district, while Momentum got its banners back and announced that Professor Pierre Schembri-Wismayer will be contesting the election under their ticket.

Alex Borg focused on healthcare; Robert Abela spoke about Gozo. Photos: Jonathan Borg/Chris Sant Fournier

The PN was a little quieter during the day; Alex Borg visited a maritime training company, and he later campaigned in Mellieħa and announced that he will be running on the 12th district, apart from his native Gozo’s 13th district.

Proposals at a glance: PL’s latest proposals target first-time buyers, disability carers and students. One of the more notable measures is free Gozo ferry trips for all residents, but only if you’re a pedestrian. In the evening, Abela pledged an electricity “interconnector” between Malta and Gozo.

Meanwhile, the PN announced more proposals for the healthcare sector, this time targetting workers, or rather, potential workers. If you’re a student in a healthcare-focused course, a PN in government would bump up your stipend to the minimum wage.

Borg also pledged a 25% stipend increase for all students (Labour is promising a 15% increase), and five years tax-free for Maltese healthcare workers who live abroad if they return to work here. 

Earlier in the day, the PN pledged some other measures, but this time targetting... seafarers. Maybe they’re a stronger voting lobby than we thought.

The Opposition Leader pledged a dedicated maritime authority, stipends for students training in maritime-related educational institutions and “subjects related to the maritime sector [to] be introduced at secondary school level”. It looks like Fish Fridays are paving the way for Maritime Mondays.

Galdes undecided: Yesterday, Roderick Galdes had a private meeting with Robert Abela over the Labour Party executive’s decision to bar him from contesting as one of their candidates. He seemed cheerful, insisted that the details of the discussion are private, but more importantly, he said that he is unsure as to whether he will contest the election.

Yesterday, Galdes said he will be formally challenging the executive council’s decision against him because at least one person who voted against him was ineligible to vote. Now, he is saying that he respects the decision, even if he does not agree with it.

Things go wrong for the Right: Imperium Europa had an awkward start to their campaign after their Instagram account got suspended. From the screenshot they shared with the press, it seems they posted things that violated the platform’s community standards on account integrity.

They said, “this is the only way our enemies can try to stop us”. I’m sure the admins at Silicon Valley are rubbing their hands in glee over the matter.

What’s on today? The Labour Party will be in Birgu at 6pm. We’ll update this space when we find out where the PN will hold their evening activity.