Labour officials instructed to make migration their focus

Labour Party officials, party communication coordinators and TV hosts working for Labour party’s One TV have been instructed to focus on migration issues during the European Parliamentary elections.

They were informed of this in a communications strategy meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister at Castille.

The Labour Party is worried that a large number of Labour voters will not be voting in the upcoming European elections.

While party bigwigs may give the impression that surveys do not really matter, the Labour Party has insisted that all of its officials and TV hosts emphasise the immigration issue, given that it emerges as a primary concern among people, according to all polls.

The same trend emerged in the reputable MaltaToday surveys, even though the concern seems to be higher with Labour voters than PN voters. The revelation comes after a spate of tragic incidents off the island of Lampedusa.

On Thursday hundreds of migrants were feared dead after a boat sank 100km off the coast of Libya and 200 miles south of Lampedusa. Reports in the Italian media said that the boat was carrying around 400 asylum seekers.

Speaking on Reporter last Monday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat described EU president Martin Schulz – the candidate for the European Commission presidency – as somebody who had a plan for immigration and for a system of legal migration to the EU. “He proposes what Malta needs,” Muscat said.

Muscat has changed tack on migration, a far cry from his radical call for a pushback. Observers have criticised the political class for overinflating the migration issue, more so when most of the migrants in boats are being picked up the Italian authorities – even when the obligation lies with the Maltese government.