Councils: Something to think about

The local council elections have resulted in an overwhelming victory for Joseph Muscat in Gozo and a comeback of sorts for Simon Busuttil in Malta.

Overall the Labour party won with a majority of 54%, down from 57%.  The Nationalist party improved its standing by significantly reducing the gap from 17 to 8.5 percentage points.

Most of the areas which held local council elections are admittedly Labour strongholds, so there was all along little realistic hope for the PN to overturn any individual council majorities. 

But voter turnout by district suggests at a glance that the Nationalist party managed to make gains because more voters cast their ballot, having made a presence in the polling booths because of the spring hunting referendum; and the party in government was on the other hand buoyed by a recent spate of largesse – such as reduced electricity rates, increased children’s allowances, etc. – all against the backdrop of an economy that is doing well. 

The PN managed to hang on to Nadur and Siggiewi, which must have been a relief...  but the Labour party won Munxar and Floriana. Which must have been disappointing for the Nationalist Party.

Either way, both Simon Busuttil and Joseph Muscat claimed victory. Traditionally, opposition parties have always fared better at council level; yet it was also not expected of the PN to gain a majority.  On the other hand the PN fared miserably in Gozo.  That was presumably because of the sympathy vote for spring hunting and the intensive campaigning by Muscat and his party.

That was apart from the scandal, which broke only recently, involving the husband of former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono.

There is no doubt that Malta needs a strong opposition, not just for the benefit of the party which occupies the position, but primarily for the benefit of democracy.  But the results attained by the Nationalist party cannot be solely attributed to Simon Busuttil.  Indeed the leader of the opposition did little in the way of campaigning.  On the contrary he led a rather subdued if not stunted campaign.

There is little doubt that the referendum itself served to galvanise voter turnout and in the process the PN voters rewarded their party.  Joseph Muscat cannot ignore this fact because in the advent of a national election, the exact situation would come into play.

There is also a significant, albeit slight drop in Labour voter turnout which should serve to raise some concerns in the ‘strategy group’ of  the governing Labour party.

Meanwhile Busuttil’s claims that his party distinguishes itself from Labour by its ‘honesty’ does not sit comfortably with the recent history that saw the PN ousted from office, with a highly significant majority for its rivals, after years of unchecked corruption. It is simply not the reason why people have opted to vote for one party and not another.  

It is very probable that Simon Busuttil has yet to realise that accusing the Labour party of a lack of honesty, which may be very much the case, simply is not good enough to convince switchers.

In the coming weeks it is expected that political parties will conduct their own post-mortems of the local election results. Needless to say, this task will be a critical one for the Nationalist and Labour parties. Already there is no doubt, with three years to go for the next election, that the contest will be between Simon Busuttil and Joseph Muscat.  Busuttil has announced that Joseph Muscat is no longer invincible. He will have to prove this.

Now more than ever, the PN must ask itself if it is able to bring back the switchers who deserted it in droves; whom it intends to represent; what its core positions are on various issues; and only then, how to contend with the massive campaign machinery of the Labour party. 

Admittedly we seem to be living in less ideologically motivated times, and the stakes were arguably higher not so very long ago. 

But while the backdrop has changed, the game being played is still the same. It is a game in which one must adapt to the prevailing circumstances, or perish.

Again, the spring hunting referendum illustrated this point. Though won by the Yes camp, almost half the country – 49% – voted against their party leaders’ intentions. This act of defiance was more conspicuous in traditional Nationalist strongholds than in Labour’s. The PN therefore has to deal with a support-base that expects more than just meaningless soundbites and empty rhetoric. It will not be content with a carbon copy of Labour, or predictable cave-ins to powerful lobbies. Nor will it necessarily be impressed with political confrontation just for the sake of confrontation.

This is a voter segment that can think with a critical mind. The Nationalist Party needs to give them, and the country, something to think about.