54 per cent of Maltese respondents in a Eurobarometer survey believe that emerging political parties in European states which go contrary to the established powers could offer new solutions to existing problems.
This is particularly interesting when considering the vast and absolute majority of Maltese citizens who religiously follow either the Labour Party or the Nationalist Party, with new smaller parties such as Partit Demokratiku, Patrijotti Maltin, Imperium Ewropa and Alleanza Bidla receiving very minimal public support.
Malta has not even embraced the green party, Alternattiva Demokratika, which cannot be characterised as a new party despite its relatively small size.
In the last general elections held in June 2017, the PL won by another landmark victory of 55.04 per cent, followed by the PN at 43.68 per cent. Together, the traditional red and blue parties which are the establishment made up 98.72 per cent of all votes.
Smaller parties only made up 1.28 per cent of the vote, with AD receiving 0.83 per cent, independent candidates were awarded 0.03 per cent of the vote while Alleanza Bidla received 0.07 per cent of votes.
Malta is often characterised as being a unique place in that patterns being observed elsewhere in the European continent tend not to be observed, or to a far lesser degree, locally. The response on smaller parties offering new solutions by Maltese respondents could also point towards how many compartmentalise their views and observations when assessing the local political context versus how they view politics beyond these shores.
One glaring consideration which obviously cannot be ignored is the deep rooted tribalism which some describe as plaguing the nation, which could justify Maltese respondents’ willingness to accept ideas from new parties overseas but stick to the established powers locally.
Half of overall respondents do not consider the emergence of new parties or political movements protesting against the political establishment as threat to democracy per se. A majority of respondents (56%) – including the Maltese - believes that such new political parties might be a vehicle for change - while a clear 70% of citizens warn new parties that ‘just being against something does not improve anything’.
The Eurobarometer survey, conducted in April 2018 amongst 27,601 people from 28 Member States reveals that on average 60% of citizens believe that EU membership of their country is a good thing whilst over two-thirds of respondents are convinced that their country has benefited from being a member of the EU. This is the highest score ever measured since 1983. Though the majority view in all Member States, the feeling of benefitting from EU membership varies from 93% in Malta to 44% in Italy.
Other notable statistics coming from responses of Maltese citizens is that 49 per cent believe they have a voice in the EU, 59 per cent are satisfied with the way democracy works within the EU and 93 per cent believe that the country benefitted from EU accession.
The barometer was conducted against a backdrop of the United Kingdom exiting from the EU after a historic referendum. Many feared that the UK’s decision would galvanise other states to contemplate a similar move.
Asked about specific concerns respondents wish to see debated in the upcoming MEP elections, almost half of Europeans (49%) cite the fight against terrorism as priority topic, followed by youth unemployment’ (48%), immigration (45%) and economy and growth (42%). Approximately one third of Europeans cite the fight against climate change and the protection of the environment (35%) whilst promoting human rights and democracy as well as the social protection of EU citizens are listed by 32% of respondents.
Immigration is by far the biggest priority for the Maltese.