“The idea that the PN can defeat Labour at the next general election is simply pie in the sky,” wrote Desmond Zammit Marmarà, a former Balzan Labour councillor on September 22.
Two days later, a survey published by The Malta Independent showed that the PN would defeat Labour with a majority of 1,500 votes if an election were held now. A fortnight later, MaltaToday’s survey showed the PN leads Labour by 5,000 votes.
“In politics, one has to face reality and not fall into the trap of believing what is no more than wishful thinking,” Zammit Marmarà said. That survey suggests it’s him who’s not facing reality.
The surveys are consistently showing the PN is ahead. Three consecutive surveys expose Labour’s waning star. Those three surveys crushed the long-held view that Labour is invincible and the PN stands no chance. That expired narrative suited Labour well. It sowed a sense of helplessness and hopelessness in its adversaries. It demotivated those disillusioned with Labour’s cruel betrayal of the nation.
That fictitious Labour narrative has been demolished – for good. Yet, Zammit Marmarà and many others cling on to their “wishful thinking” that Labour is invincible.
“Forget the idea that Labour is heading to defeat. Let us be realistic: how many Maltese citizens are ready to entrust Malta’s future to the PN,” Zammit Marmarà asked.
More than Labour is the survey’s answer: 45.8% trust the PN. That might not seem like much. But it’s more than Labour at 43.8%. That’s a devastating blow for Labour.
In just one year, Robert Abela’s party has shed one-third of its voters. Abela managed to turn a 40,000-vote advantage into a 5,000-vote disadvantage. That’s no mean feat.
“For the PN to win a general election it would need to win a considerable number of people who voted Labour,” Zammit Marmarà insisted. One survey shows that 6.3% of 2022 Labour voters would now vote PN. That’s a 12.6% swing for the PN. Another 25.8% of Labour voters, more than a quarter, would either not vote or vote for smaller parties, including the ADPD.
In Gozo, the election bell-weather, the PN is substantially ahead with 39.3% against Labour’s 28.2%. In 2022, Labour won Gozo with a 9.6% lead. The PN now leads by 11.1%. That’s a stunning 20.7% swing.
“Do you seriously believe that such people are going to vote PN just because they are sick and tired of being let down by Labour,” Zammit Marmarà asked. The survey’s answer is a resounding yes. Over 10,000 red voters have already turned blue. And there’s another four years for more to follow suit.
Zammit Marmarà is badly underestimating the rage, anger and disgust that genuine Labour voters feel at the gross shamelessness of their party’s leadership. Zammit Marmarà has no feel for the rising disillusionment with every Labour debacle – from the Vitals saga to the Jean Paul Sofia disaster, to the most recent disability benefits fiasco. That’s besides the traffic chaos, the energy collapse, drainage overflows, uncollected rubbish, botched road repairs, inflation, uncontrolled immigration.
“We simply have to face reality: Labour will, in all probability, be in power for many years to come,” Zammit Marmarà insisted. That categorical claim sounds dangerously hollow as voters desert Labour in droves.
Desmond Zammit Marmarà is badly underestimating the rage, anger and disgust that genuine Labour voters feel at the gross shamelessness of their party’s leadership- Kevin Cassar
Zammit Marmarà tried to make the point that “the solution is to reform Labour”. His flimsy argument is that, since Labour will inevitably remain in power for years, the only hope for Malta is for Labour to reform.
He is right. Labour needs reform. In fact, it needs a root and branch overhaul to reclaim its soul. But Labour has never reformed while in power. It simply got dangerously worse the longer it clung to power. Even when it lost the 1987 election, Labour refused to change. It kept the hopelessly inept Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici. And suffered an even bigger defeat in 1992.
Only then did Labour start to change. It elected a new leader who faced down the violent elements within the party. Alfred Sant was brave enough to change Labour. And he triumphed. Labour made the same mistake. They stuck to Sant in 2003 and 2008 and lost again.
If Zammit Marmarà is truly “sick and tired of corruption scandals, the destruction of the environment by greedy developers, the petty arrogance of several government officials”, he should strive to kick Labour out. That’s the only hope for Labour to reform and avoid another 25 years in the wilderness.
“The recent social benefits scandal has disgusted all Maltese of goodwill,” he commented, yet believes it’s got nothing to do with Abela. ‘There is a lot of goodwill on the part of the prime minister but I also believe he has been let down in a shameful way by many of the people under his leadership.”
Who let Abela down? Justyne Caruana? Rosianne Cutajar? Who reappointed them against the advice of many? Abela did. He has only himself to blame for their serious transgressions.
And where’s Abela’s goodwill? Is it in his hard-headed refusal to terminate the stinking Vitals’ agreement until Adrian Delia’s case forced his hand? Is it in his months’ long cover-up of the Silvio Grixti disability fraud? In his defence of the driving licence racket? That isn’t goodwill. That is appalling judgement at best and obstruction of justice at worst.
Would a person of goodwill keep Grixti in his OPM consultancy role when he knew what he’d done? Would a person of goodwill enter into a shady deal with Christian Borg, later investigated for violent kidnapping, money laundering and drug smuggling? Would he callously reject the pleas of Jean Paul Sofia’s grieving mother? Would he hide the report on Miriam Pace’s death for months to protect his developer friends? Would he completely ignore all the recommendations of the Caruana Galizia inquiry to shield his colleagues?
“It is extremely dangerous to try and destroy Robert Abela politically,” Zammit Marmara contended. Why? Because, according to him, whoever comes after Abela might be much worse. How comforting. What a bright future Malta has with Labour. Let’s keep Abela as Labour might elect somebody far more dangerous. That’s not aspiration. It’s desperation.
Zammit Marmarà is a good man. It’s understandably hard for him to admit the scale of devastation his party’s inflicted. He still wants to believe Abela has goodwill and that Labour can change. He found the courage to condemn Labour’s misdeeds. Now he needs one more ounce of bravery to admit the best option for Malta and the party is Labour’s defeat.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.