In the end, against some notable odds – including internal rivalries and heavier abstentionism – Robert Abela’s had his way. The absurd 41,000 vote margin, possibly a mirage for Labour itself, saw the second son of the Abela dynasty pulverise Bernard Grech and the PN at the end of a lethargic, unengaging electoral campaign made up of unconvincing proposals.
Somehow, the lowest voter turnout since Independence still managed to hurt the opposition, which merely led a charm offensive where it tried to be a Labour MKII, playing the wobbly hand of being a ‘less corrupt’, ‘nicer’ establishment than their counterparts.
When Vincent Marmarà indicated, last week, that a portion of those who voted PN in 2017 weren’t bothered to back the party this time round, it sounded like an axe had fallen.
The PN needs to look hard at the mirror, and not for its own flattery. It’s time to reopen the proverbial windows to let in the fresh air, as one of their former party ideologues – in a time before emojis weren’t a thing – had put it after Malta joined the EU.
Since 2017, they have now managed to lose almost 13,000 votes, roughly the size of their 1993 majority, after 10 years of Labour government, in spite of the assassination of a journalist, the FATF greylisting and scandals at a daily rate. Their electorate had more reasons than the infamous cheques to vote out the likes of Jason Azzopardi or Karol Aquilina while ousted leader Adrian Delia was elected on two districts.
An opposition stuck in the 1960s cannot inspire 16-year -olds to vote for change. The party needs to shed its confessional, conservative identity, which has seen it fight civil liberties (such as the cannabis reform and the equality bill) with the zeal of an inquisitor; yet, it stands by idly in the face of the monster with many heads: those of Joseph Portelli, Silvio Debono, Anton Camilleri, the Zammit Tabonas and the rest of the big business cabal; people with whom both leaders proudly claimed to have dined.
This, together with a latent veil of class hatred (remnant of a lost class war), is part of what made the PN an unpalatable choice for thousands of people who had no wish to vote Labour.
But the landslide hasn’t only wiped away the opposition. Last Sunday, I wondered how the exiled Bonaparte of Burmarrad must have felt to see Abela greeted like a new deity, the new deity, as chants of “Robert Tagħna l-Mexxej” drowned the hall.
Abela’s first full mandate is now legitimated by a ruthless majority – one that reflects its leader.
But this is where the tough have to get going. Labour billboards plonked everywhere proudly display Robert and Lydia Abela, smiling through more teeth they can fit in a picture, promising us that “the future’s beautiful”. Indeed, it is, for them: from now, expect Abela to dismantle the rest of the Muscat-era power structures, to replace them with his own.
An opposition stuck in the 1960s cannot inspire 16-year-olds to vote for change- Wayne Flask
Unlike their beautiful future, clouds are packing the skies. Expect the now-legitimated ‘continuity’ to result in a full-scale assault by speculators and their facilitators in almost every town in Malta, just like it was in 2017, or in 2015, right after the hunting referendum exposed a fragmented environmental lobby.
Yet, there are more stories to the numbers. Abela’s triumph was blemished by record abstentions at the polls, which hurt both parties. Between them, PLPN lost another 20,000 votes; the percentage of valid votes cast for PLPN now stands at 81 per cent, meaning that a fifth of the population has not trusted either monolith with their vote. In 2017, that figure stood at 90 per cent.
Those votes represent a huge potential for both parties, which need to put their ears to the ground and understand their grassroots’ rumblings. But they are also the ideal fodder for a third political force, ideally one that represents the left and all those fighting for social justice. Before we get there, a constitutional reform is badly needed to free our electoral system from its rusty shackles.
Democracies and oppositions aren’t all about a vote every five years. Lessons in the last three years have shown that the alliances between civil society and residents associations can bear fruit, even if apparently limited.
While the parliamentary opposition sorts itself out, there’s a grassroots resistance to be organised: one which involves ordinary citizens first and foremost and one that can put pressure on the institutions – from local councils to the authorities all the way up to the president of the republic – to protect what’s left of our quality of life and implement reforms from the local plans to the constitution.
More importantly, the resistance will have to watch out for what they don’t mention in those electoral manifestos. One can only wonder whether Labour will press ahead with the Mrieħel flyover, or with the extension of roads in Dingli ODZ, close to lands owned by a major developer; whether more arable land will be committed to a Bonnici supermarket and wider roads in Burmarrad; and whether the Marsascala marina and the merry men behind it will rear their ugly head.
Of course, Abela talks of humility like he knows what it actually means. I, for one, am cynical of this desire for atonement, especially seeing how Labour persevered in frustrating part of its own voter base, without relenting in the assault on our communities through multimillion projects.
If the prime minister’s serious about it, he’d be firing a few CEOs this very moment. I won’t hold my breath. If anything, this election has been an expensive reshuffle for both parties, leaving most things as they were.
For civil society, residents and the orphans of PLPN, it’s work as usual. Reforms aren’t coming from parliament: we’ll have to work for them.