When the Nationalist Party was in government, the Labour Party used to attack the Prime Ministers of the time of using their power of incumbency to increase exposure and try to win votes. Now that we have a Labour government, the Labour Party is using government activities in its favour during an election campaign.

Power of incumbency means that a person/organisation/political party uses the position held to gain advantage over possible opponents. In this case, the Prime Minister’s presence at government functions, such as those that happened yesterday, are being used for political purposes, earning mileage when Joseph Muscat is present as PM, not as party leader.

All throughout the legislature the lines between the government and the party were always murky, and the distinction between the two was lost. It happened also on 1 May this year, when Joseph Muscat used a political activity to announce the election date, rather than an official event as Prime Minister. “U iva, mhux xorta,” is how Labour thinks.

Labour Party

Joseph Muscat was in Valletta early in the morning to speak about the government’s success in the employment sector. Malta has the highest ever participation rate and the lowest ever unemployment rate. One has to put the countless number of jobs that were given out in the public sector – including all those former Super One employees – into the equation.

The PM made an unexpected statement in the afternoon, saying that Labour will reduce the penalties imposed on hunters who infringe the law. This was a vote-catching statement aimed to lure the hunting community towards Labour. Whether this will have a negative effect on how environmentalists think remains to be seen.

There’s another side to this. The PM said penalties will come down because magistrates are handling hunting cases in a draconian way. A PM who is at the centre of a magisterial inquiry who attacks the judiciary is not a good thing to hear.

Joseph Muscat on Gay Marriage from The Malta Independent on Vimeo.

Labour continues to play the gay card each time it feels with its back against the wall. Joseph Muscat is promising gay marriage now, and used someone like Felix Busuttil last Sunday to win some extra votes. It is good however to remember what Joseph Muscat used to say about gay marriage, as can be seen in video above. Changing an opinion on conviction is one thing, changing it for votes is another.

Labour also wooed farmers by saying they would no longer pay taxes.

Nationalist Party

Jobs were also the subject discussed by Simon Busuttil, with the Nationalist Party pledging to create 30,000 jobs – in the private sector. But his most interesting point was that the PN would like to enshrine having a positive budget in the Constitution. Rather a tall order. One wonders if this is achievable.

This target would put great pressure on the government, and would probably mean that any investment needed would not be made just to balance the budget. It’s like not buying a new car so as not to take a loan.

The PN started what looks like to be a daily appointment by Simon Busuttil on Net TV in the afternoon. Yesterday, he spoke about disability pensions.

The quote of the day – perhaps of the campaign, at least so far – came in the evening, when Simon Busuttil urged Labour supporters to do what Dom Mintoff would have done. He played on the heart-strings of Labour supports, in a Labour stronghold such as Cospicua, to tell them to put Malta’s interests before everything else.

A nice touch indeed, and a good move for the mild political followers. It’s hard to imagine that the Labour diehards will go against their party, not even if they are told Mintoff would have done so. They worship Joseph Muscat. But Busuttil is reaching out to the undecided, and something like this could help in the endeavour.

Another good move was made by Marlene Farrugia, who took the old, red Labour flag with her when she represented the PN-PD coalition on a TV debate. It was a not-so-subtle appeal to Labourites to ditch the party they no longer recognise and join the Forza Nazzjonali.