The Labour Party has told election campaign suppliers to get to work from the second week of February.
Suppliers of billboards, lighting and sound equipment, and large tents and stages used for political gatherings were contacted by Labour’s election campaign team on Monday and Tuesday and told to prepare to roll out services from February 7.
Party insiders say this indicates Prime Minister Robert Abela could call an election between now and the first week of February.
If Abela fires the starting pistol next week, then polling day will be held in the first two weeks of March.
Political sources have in recent days been speculating over a potential March 12 date, saying the prime minister is likely to call the election as soon as possible amid favourable opinion polls and the imminent reduction of COVID-19 restrictions.
An indication that a general election could be looming was given in parliament earlier this week when the government moved to rush through the House the Bill for Implementation of the Budget Measures.
Such a bill is moved after every budget and the debate usually stretches for weeks, often months.
This time, the government opened the debate on Tuesday and closed it off on Wednesday for a final vote in the third reading stage on February 2. A law amending the General Elections Act was approved by parliament last week to make possible special voting arrangements for people in quarantine.
Times of Malta reported that the special arrangements would consist of drive-through polling stations open to people listed as being in quarantine by the Superintendent of Public Health.
The law stipulates a minimum of 33 days between the dissolution of parliament and election day.
A visit by Pope Francis to Malta, scheduled for April 2 and 3, also increases the chances that an election will be called for mid-March, given that the Vatican is insisting that a visit does not coincide with an electoral campaign.
However, the prime minister could still opt to wait to call an election until his administration comes to an end.
While the full term of the present government ends in June, it could theoretically be extended for another three months.
Last year, the prime minister handpicked an internal strategy team that began meeting on the fourth floor of the party’s Ħamrun headquarters.
The tight-knit group features some members of former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s team.
It also includes those who worked on Abela’s internal election campaign, which saw him elected party leader last year.
Times of Malta understands that the team has almost completed the electoral manifesto.
It has since been split in two with one team working out of Labour HQ and another working out of the Auberge de Castille in Valletta.