PL strategy team ‘ready in case of early election’

The Labour Party’s strategy team has been meeting regularly to prepare the party for the possibility of a snap election.

While the date of the general election remains the prime minister’s prerogative, the party is starting its electoral engines in case of a June election, Labour insiders said.

“No one has told us specifically to get ready for June but it feels like it could happen,” one party official said.

“There are many reasons to have an election in the coming months,” another senior party source said.

All surveys carried out in recent months indicate the PL heading towards a fourth consecutive electoral victory over the Nationalist Party.

Party sources are optimistic that a pledge to carry out a number of projects, together with international instability, will work in Labour’s favour.

“The country is rife with speculation about a June election... that speculation itself is fuelling the push for that to happen, it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy,” they said.

Robert Abela’s government holds a mandate until March 2027 but speculation has persisted that he could opt for an earlier poll. In an interview with Times of Malta last November, he all but dismissed the possibility, as rumours at the time suggested a potential March 2026 election.

But even without a snap election announced, the PL’s election strategy team is now meeting regularly with a year left in the legislature, one senior official said.

Who's in Labour's election team?

Among the PL group steering the party’s electoral strategy is party CEO Leonid McKay and government chief of staff Mark Mallia. For both, this is their first electoral rodeo at the top of the party’s campaign.

More seasoned campaigners involved include former head of government communications and current Transport Malta CEO Kurt Farrugia, former PL CEO James Piscopo and film commissioner Johann Grech. All three have previously played key roles in helping the Labour Party secure victory.

Officials were reluctant to provide many details on the party’s ongoing behind-the-scenes work, but said that work on the party manifesto is progressing and that the electoral campaign will focus most on bringing out the “young vote”.

“Our surveys and even publicly available surveys continue to show that young people are the ones who are most likely to be undecided. We’re not saying that we’ll ignore other voters but we’ll give an extra push to get the young vote,” an official said.

Labour’s electoral campaign intends to do that in the policies it proposes in its manifesto but also in the way it spreads its message.

“Many young people aren’t engaged by holding mass meetings.”

While PN leader Alex Borg has managed to make inroads with young voters, PL officials said the ruling party needed more time to gauge if his popularity had plateaued.

Meanwhile, MPs, candidates, and aides said they have shifted their own efforts electoral efforts into “fifth gear” – meaning more house visits, coffee mornings and more time in the constituency office.

Times of Malta is informed that a number of government customer care officials have been calling people asking if they needed any particular assistance. Apart from the election date, the prime minister also has the privilege of choosing the length of the electoral campaign – between a minimum of 33 days and a maximum of three months.

The Labour government called an election in June 2017, nine months before the due date, and then in March 2022, three months before the expiry of the five-year term. Labour has won all three elections with a majority of more than 35,000 votes over the PN.