Tick tock, tick tock…

The 2026 election campaign has been one of the calmest and educated ever. I recall my first election in 1981 and by comparison this year’s campaign is so different you would think that you were living in another country altogether.

It is thanks to Robert Abela and Alex Borg, who set the tone of the campaign and did not convert it into a mud-slinging match. They are two young leaders with a different outlook and surrounded by advisers who were willing not to raise the temperature for no unnecessary reason.

To keep an electoral campaign going is no easy task; but it worked and until I was penning this opinion the predicament (based on preliminary figures) that there would be a lower turnout than 2022  did not materialise.

What does this mean?

Increase in voter participation is difficult to interpret but it has an impact either way on the incumbent in government.

This electoral campaign kicked off with a big bang from the Labour Party. For a week there was a sensation that Alex Borg and the PN had simply missed the bus and were caught unprepared.

The resident cartoonist of MaltaToday, Mikiel Galea, was passing through a bad patch and prepared a cartoon well before the Sunday edition. Picking on this observation, he drew a football team led by Robert Abela facing a non-existent adversary.

But at the very last moment that cartoon had to be changed because Alex Borg launched his campaign with a plethora of proposals to match Robert Abela’s.

The four weeks that followed were dominated by fiscal give aways meant to entice voters to embrace either the Labour or Nationalist parties.  Some saw it too silly and puerile an exercise.

Yet, when it came to comparisons, the two leaders could showcase different strengths.

Robert Abela exuded maturity, experience and a capable team and one that championed Malta’s economy.

Alex Borg offered freshness, youthfulness and an immeasurable quality—likeability. He promised a new chapter for Malta.

But one thing that did not dominate the campaign was reference to corruption and abuse of power. Or when there was any reference, it was increasingly mild. That kept many toxic commentaries out of the campaign and in a sense it was refreshing.

The campaign turned out to be a battle of ideas.

The one thing that worked against Robert Abela was the fact that governments are traditionally not forever and, I guess, an underlying accumulation of sins pertaining to his predecessor.

Abela had a lot going for him—a slick, very well-greased campaign and a vibrant economy.

Alex Borg on the other hand had charisma that worked wonders with young people. He came to the role with little or no political baggage. To reinforce Borg’s intention to offer a new look to the PN, many old faces called it a day.

Robert Abela made it a point to remind voters that Malta needed a safe pair of hands to take the country through geopolitical challenges.  The insinuation was that Borg did not have a team and was too young.

This all took place in the shadow of polls that indicated that Labour would win with a comfortable majority. From 30,000 votes in The Times and Marmara surveys to the 18,000 advantage in the MaltaToday survey.

But all surveys contained caveats enshrined in the high number of undecided voters and others who potentially provided false replies when quizzed about their voting preferences.

The best poll is by far the outcome of the election itself. That vote will prove beyond doubt who is the winner and the loser.

Then the recriminations will commence.

What I do know is that whoever wins will be tasked with an endless hit list for implementation. Many of them are ambitious and tricky, such as the metro. There are also an endless list of financial promises that will serve to benefit a vast sections of society.

It will be manna from heaven.

But there will be other teething problems that cannot wait for electoral pledges.

The economic direction needs to be well managed; the population time bomb needs to be managed; the environmental deficit and planning dilemma requires immediate attention; and the pressure on our national health scheme dealt with.

When the results are known to all on Sunday, we need to reflect on the next step—the decisions that need to be taken. Until then, we can only wait.