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It would be a very grave mistake for political parties to interpret the results of yesterday’s vote merely on a local level. That would indeed be a very superficial reading of the message delivered by one third of Malta’s electorate.
All over Europe local and regional elections are considered to be barometers of the public mood on national issues. They serve as a means to verify the popularity and strength of political parties and the issues they champion. Malta is no different.
Apart from influencing the administration of their respective locality, voters yesterday registered their position on how well or otherwise the country in general is being run. In a democracy where the people elect a government once every five years and in a scenario where the winner takes all, it is inevitable that local elections are used as a means to express a vote of confidence or no confidence in the ruling administration.
It has always been like this and although the vote will not change the country’s administration it requires careful analysis.
When the people speak politicians have a duty to listen. Taking decisions that matter even if they cause disgruntlement is a sign of leadership but a fine line distinguishes leadership from arrogance. And people have a way of reminding politicians when that fine line is transgressed.
The number crunchers at Pietà and Hamrun will be digesting the results with a fine-toothed comb. They will be assessing their party’s support in various localities and extrapolating possible reasons for the result. What they say publicly will be different from the analysis conducted internally. Again, much will be left to interpretation but lessons will be learnt and actions contemplated.
The Nationalist Party has the hardest task of all. After the dismal showing in the June European Parliament elections, the party has not been able to gauge the public’s mood. Hard decisions continued to be implemented in a haphazard way that perpetuated public disgruntlement and the ‘strategic’ decision to withdraw from the Zejtun and Marsa elections rekindled memories of the hugely unpopular appointment of Eddie Fenech Adami as President.
The PN and Government have a lot of soul-searching to do and the local election results will serve as another eye opener.
In the three years before the next general election the PN will have other eye openers but time is of the essence if the party hopes to regain lost ground.
For the Labour Party, the results will probably boost their confidence ahead of the next extraordinary general conference in June, which is to decide on the EU Constitution and the party’s blueprint for economic regeneration.
But Labour will have to sift through its vote and determine whether it has managed to widen its voting base beyond the traditional working class core. If the party wants to win the next general election, seeking a wider electoral base is of paramount importance.
As for the Greens their results in local elections have until now been encouraging even if they still struggle to find candidates in more localities. The result will not mimic the enormous success the Greens had in the EP election but it could establish the areas where Alternattiva Demokratika has managed to mobilise a solid core vote.
Indeed, when the reflectors at the temporarily-assembled counting hall in the Mediterranean Conference Centre are switched off, political life will continue and hopefully the political parties, Government and the Opposition would have understood the people’s verdict sufficiently so as to address the major concerns that characterise Malta 2005.
Refusal by the parties to acknowledge the people’s verdict would only serve to alienate the electorate and perpetuate the sense of unease that is currently afflicting Maltese society.
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