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It’s the third local election victory in three years for the Labour Party and the first time in 11 years that the Nationalist Party lost this round of local elections, which is deemed to be favourable to the blues.
Partial results yesterday evening clearly pointed towards a Labour victory with a general swing in almost every locality that could possibly shoot the MLP just above the magical 50 per cent threshold giving them an absolute victory.
The global turnout of 66 per cent represents a reduction of around five per cent over the turnout registered in 2000 (comparison cannot be made with 2003 since elections were held on same day as referendum and turnouts were uncharacteristically high). Indications are that more Nationalists decided to stay home and register their protest with a ‘no vote’.
The initial results emanating from the counting halls in Valletta and Victoria were pointing towards a clear Labour majority, the first time the party would have managed victory in this particular round of local elections where the larger localities are traditionally PN-leaning. Voter abstention was high in PN-leaning localities such as Msida (-8%), Naxxar (-10%) and Sliema (-8%). Of particular note is the turnout in Labour-leaning Sannat which registered a drop of 12% possibly giving the Green Party a fighting chance to elect its first ever Gozitan councillor.
Up to the time of going to print, Pieta and Msida changed hands from blue to red. In Msida, the 24-year-old law student Alex Sciberras, son of former MLP candidate Philip Sciberras, registered the highest number of votes and will be the new mayor. Rabat (Malta) remained a close battle.
In Mtarfa PN registered 37.1% and Labour 62.9%.
Labour also managed to elect a councillor in Mdina, having contested the election there for the first time. The Labour Party was also in the running for a third seat in the Sliema council up one from its current two.
Alternattiva Demokratika is set to re-elect Michael Briguglio on Sliema but with just over five per cent in Lija, the Green Party is likely to lose its councillor in this locality.
Marked by banal bickering and last-minute vote scrounging, Malta’s parochialism was at its peak in the last weeks, but local issues sprung to the forefront in critical localities for the Nationalist Party.
Key councils
Fronts opened up in the south, where Marsaskala saw former Nationalist MP Josie Muscat presenting his list of independent candidates for the seaside town dogged by fish farms and the impending upgrade of the recycling plant. By Friday, over 15% of votes were uncollected in Marsaskala, the highest percentage of uncollected votes amongst the contested localities.
A MaltaToday survey last Sunday predicted Muscat’s group would scoop over 24% of the vote to send the PN into third place in Marsaskala. Just days later, the Nationalists attempted a cheap coup by announcing the creation of a massive leisure park by the Sant Antnin recycling plant. With little excitement generated by another grand promise from Gonzi, Muscat’s group was tipped for a good show yesterday.
Disgruntlement in Sliema, a Nationalist stronghold which has attracted the ire of residents over unpopular development projects in Qui-Si-Sana and Tigné, was another problem for the PN. MaltaToday predicted the PN majority would dip with significant gains for Green Party councillor Michael Briguglio.
Here was a rare show of middle class rebellion: traditional PN voters, affluent, bourgeois, and moderate, for whom the tranquillity of a tiny neighbourhood prevailed over partisan loyalties. The Qui-Si-Sana issue attracted great publicity after government refused public consultation on the development brief on car park and mall, staunchly opposed by residents, and the Labour and AD councillors.
Yesterday, the Nationalist Party mobilised all its activists to encourage its voters to make it to the hustings.
Rabat was the scene of great commotion over the disputed version of events on a leak in St Paul’s Grotto, and how the Labour-led council was, or was not responsible for the ill-effects of roadworks and rain effluent. However, it was scandal over Parliamentary Secretary Tony Abela’s association with an alleged drug trafficker, fellow Rabti Indri Zammit, which characterised Labour’s campaign in Rabat through a dedicated media blitz.
Until the last two weeks of campaigning, Labour was all set to retain the majority it won in 2003 in Rabat but the outcome of yesterday’s voting left an unclear picture as the PN fought back throughout the week utilising the MLP’s George Vella’s statement that a recycling plant could possibly be built somewhere to the north of Rabat.
In 2003 the difference between the two major parties amounted to just over 200 votes.
A total of 8,805 voting documents remained unclaimed for these local elections, one of the highest ever figures. The largest number of uncollected votes was in Sliema, 1,648, followed by Birkirkara 1,062. The highest percentage of unclaimed votes was in Marsaskala.
In 2003, 4,700 votes were unclaimed although the high turnout of those elections was due to their coinciding with the EU referendum, held on the same day.
The PN had won the local elections by a relative majority of 48.9 per cent, with Labour trailing at 46.9 per cent and Alternattiva Demokratika at 3.1 per cent. Independents had managed a creditable 1.1 per cent of the vote in 2003.
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