Who is Owen Bonnici and what were the reasons behind your decision to contest these European Parliament elections?

I am a 24-year-old Social democrat who graduated in Legal and European Studies and holds a diploma of Notary Public. I come from Zejtun and have been working in a legal office for the last three years.

Two years ago I married my wife, Nadia, and since then we have lived in Marsascala where I was immediately elected as a Labour councillor in the local elections. In fact, I am responsible for education, culture and the natural environment in the Labour-led local council.

My decision to contest these European Parliament elections was triggered by two reasons. First I believe that we need to make use of this novel Europarliamentary experience in order to promote a new way of conducting politics, and to do so we need to have fresh ideas and new blood. It is high time we make a collective effort in order to maximise the strengths of EU membership and minimise the disadvantages what arise from the implementation of the accession treaty. To do so we need to shed off the old mentality which permeates national politics and embrace new philosophies and ideas.

Secondly, I felt that with my studies in the subject and with my experience at a local level, I could contribute to serve both my country and my party and be a direct link between the European Parliament and the people living here.

What do you think are the strengths you can bring to this campaign and

what are the issues which you believe the electorate will vote on?

Looking back at the three-and-a-half months of campaigning since I was chosen as candidate in the last week of February, I feel that our Labour team has worked very smoothly together and has moved on with synergy and co-ordination. The fact that four of our eight candidates are under 35 and the other four candidates are young at heart and energetic made us a lively team, full of initiative and courage. I have always tried to be a trusted friend to my fellow Labour candidates and I have made a conscious effort to turn our relationship from that of “colleagues” or “fellows in the same ship” to that of true friends. It was a privilege for me to work with such a splendid team of extraordinary gentlemen.

Our team has contributed immensely to this campaign and has succeeded in putting in the limelight the citizens’ thoughts and aspirations which were being voiced in the streets and in the homes, mainly the concern about the lack of job opportunities, the worries about the future of the welfare state, the sorry state of the environment, the need to maintain peace in our region, the incompetence of the government to shoulder the responsibilities arising from EU membership and the need of providing equal opportunities to everyone.

I believe that the pluses of our manifesto entitled Work, Welfare and Dignity lie in the fact that it tackles exactly the issues which the electorate will vote on. The electorate will vote Labour because it knows that the Labour team is determined to make the most of the challenges presented by membership and safeguard work, the welfare state, the environment, peace and other essential values for our citizens. The Nationalist Party in government is failing to make Malta work and to address the concerns of the citizens.

The vast size of the electorate constrains you to conduct a much more varied electoral campaign than one at grassroots level. What are the main features of your campaign and how are you pursuing prospective voters?

The campaign of the Labour team was based not only on the media but also in direct communication with the electorate.

This campaign saw our leader, Dr Alfred Sant and the Labour team, meeting tens of families every day in different localities all over Malta and Gozo. Our team also realised the need to work at grassroots level and visited people in their homes explaining our message to them.

The vast size of the electorate turned this effort into an interesting challenge. People hailing from the various political groups literally stormed our telephone lines and e-mails, requesting us to meet them and we as a Labour team spent a good number of hours every day talking to families from all over Malta and Gozo, always passing on our message of Work, Welfare and Dignity.

I believe this effort left a very positive effect. We not only succeeded in convincing a good number of eurosceptic Labourites to vote for our team, but we managed to attract people who did not vote Labour in the last election to consider the individual strengths of our candidates.

Above all, this whole grassroot style of campaigning gave us a good opportunity to listen to the worries of people and thereby conduct a campaign with the people, directly addressing their concerns, aspirations and worries.

Each individual candidate had a specific appeal for a particular pocket of voters and I trust that our distinguishing characteristics reaped a collective good harvest for the party.

Do you believe you have national appeal as a candidate despite your young age?

I don’t think the electorate judges a book by its cover. The electorate sees a candidate in a holistic

manner and dissects his judgment, mode of conduct, image, opinion

and intelligence. I believe that my young age is one of the factors which makes me what I am – that is a new face with fresh ideas and full of initiative.

Do you think Labour voters feel apathetic about EU issues and will this affect voter turnout on the MLP side?

I believe that our media and focused grassroots campaign of our message and initiatives have convinced eurosceptic voters and the number of apathetic voters has declined substantially.

The Nationalist Party has stealthily tried to bank on this issue by giving the impression that the forthcoming 12 June election is a vote in favour or against European Union membership. However, more and more voters are realising that next Saturday we are not going to vote in favour or against the EU, or for the candidate who is the most in favour or against the EU, but for those candidates who can work best for the national interest.

What is the feeling of the team of candidates representing the Labour Party?

We have a positive feeling. This has been a tough campaign, both in terms of geography and timing, coming only a year after a defeat at the last general election. However, as the weeks literally rolled by, we began to feel that the electorate was beginning to understand our message and, what’s more, people were realising that we had a stronger message, a more hardworking set-up and the best team.

We, as a team, have worked tirelessly throughout the whole campaign and will keep on working up to the last minute to convince the largest number of voters possible to choose Labour.

Your final message to the electorate?

Next Saturday the electorate is not going to vote in favour or against joining the European Union. The EU membership issue is passé . Now we have to work hard to promote the opportunities brought about by membership and minimise the negative consequences which may arise due to accession to the EU.

The electorate has a choice between a Nationalist team who, like its party in government, lacks initiative and stamina to work for the good of our country and a Labour

team who, with the help of our fellow Socialists in the European

Parliament, has the motivation to make the most out of this new experience.

A vote for the Nationalist team will be a vote of approval for the sorry way the PN in government is tackling the obligations and new challenges of EU membership, while a vote for Labour will be a vote against the current mode of governance and in favour of an alternative, Social-democrat way of moving forward within the context of the EU.

The conclusion is simple. Malta is not working. We need new ideas, fresh initiatives and new ways in order to grow and progress in this new reality we call the European Union.

Choose Labour.