Election Desk: Smart watch this space

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. 

Watch your step(s) 

Perhaps Thursday’s most eye-catching, if not the most earth-shattering, proposal came in the morning from the Nationalist Party, as Alex Borg pledged to introduce a new smart watch grant for those aged between 15 and 25 if elected to government. Move over arloġġ tal-Lira, hello arloġġ tal-Garmin.  

Those who participate in the voluntary programme (a mandatory programme would be pretty Orwellian, to be fair) would then receive vouchers based on the physical activity they register on the watch.  

“Those vouchers can be used for things like gym memberships, sports equipment, fitness classes and so on,” Borg said.  

Smart watches aside, PN also unveiled more details of its “hospital network” plan, which Borg vowed would be complete in five years to the tune of around €600 million. Central to the plan is the construction of a new hospital in the north of Malta, expanding the Paola Health Hub in the south into a fully-fledged hospital and constructing a new hospital in Gozo.  

Former Labour health minister Chris Fearne was not impressed by the proposal, saying in a press conference that the plans would turn the clock back by two decades. If nothing else, Thursday was certainly a time-keeping-themed day. 

Energy announcement blurs the lines 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Robert Abela started his day by seeming to blur the lines between the state and the party. Abela announced that Malta will build a third interconnector between Malta and Sicily. But as our journalist Neville Borg noticed, the announcement was made at a government event, rather than a Labour Party one. 

When asked, Abela dismissed any suggestion of inappropriateness, insisting the plan had been in the works for several months. 

"Today was the appropriate time to launch this ambitious plan, at the height of an international crisis over the subject," Abela said. 

The government also set a target for renewables to make up a quarter of Malta's energy supply by 2030. A hard ask considering Malta is currently one of the worst-ranked countries in Europe when it comes to renewable energy generation. 

This time, it was ADPD's turn to slam a major party proposal. Reacting to the announcement, the party said a third interconnector underlined a government failure to plan for the long-term.   

“Malta’s over-reliance on imported fossil fuels leaves it acutely vulnerable to international crises. As global events have shown, fluctuations in oil and gas markets can rapidly translate into higher costs and economic instability,” the party said. 

But that wasn’t the only PL proposal in ADPD’s sights. The party slammed Labour’s “endless list of proposals” to make Gozo a better place, branding it as nothing more than “Father Christmas-style electoral campaigning” while calling for policies that prioritise Gozitans. 

Lest anyone accuse ADPD of disproportionately attacking one side, their meme department also found time to take a swipe at Alex Borg’s smart watch proposal. 

ADPD poked fun at PN's smart watch proposal. Photo: ADPD

Later in the day, PL unveiled a new set of proposals at an event in Vittoriosa: doubling the first-time buyers grant to €20,000 for people suffering a severe disability; extending the free gym membership scheme to those suffering from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s; personalised budget plans for youths with disabilities; and free swimming lessons for children aged between three and five. 

At the same time, Alex Borg was in Għargħur, telling people that Malta was one of, if not the only European country, whose government had called an election due to the Middle East crisis. 

Momentum faces resistance over lack of women

Momentum started the day by announcing its full list of seven candidates. However, social media users noticed a complete lack of women on the list.

The party denied accusations of sexism, instead attributing the absence of female election candidates to “personal circumstances” currently preventing women involved in the party executive from campaigning. 

My colleague Nicole Meilak, who has been steering the Election Desk (I was careful to avoid using the word ‘manning’ there) so far, before being occupied by Thursday’s live blog, suggested a new party should be formed, called Womentum.

The party also released five new proposals: a two-year moratorium on high-rise buildings, the introduction of a Public Integrity Act that would empower the National Audit Office to examine every elected official’s assets within 90 days of taking office, every year; a tax on vacant properties; a stronger Freedom of Information Act; and the restructuring of the Planning Authority to make it free from conflicts of interest. 

While the lack of women presented a thorn in the side of Momentum, it pales in comparison to the soap opera plotline that is ‘Will Roderick Galdes be a Labour candidate or not?’ 

No one knows, apparently, not even Galdes himself, or Robert Abela, who, when asked about the issue at the definitely-not-a-campaign event in the morning, cryptically said that Galdes had “placed the party’s interests above his own”. 

Want a government job? Bring safety shoes 

And on a final dramatic note, we end with Adrian Delia. During a press conference, Delia claimed that ministries are calling people and offering them jobs.  

“In a case I’m familiar with, one person received a call and was told he could start work on Monday and only bring his ID card and a pair of safety boots," Delia said.  

As serious as the allegation is, I’m just wondering... why only a pair of safety boots? No other clothing? Is there a hen party on Monday? And where will this man keep his ID card? He should at least wear a smartwatch too, to keep track of the calories burned while dancing. 

Epilogue: discount flights 

One more public service announcement.

Because we are stuck in the Dark Ages, and Maltese people living abroad still need to come back to the country to vote, KM Malta is offering special election flights at the special fare of €90, return.

Bookings open on May 4 and close on May 30.