The coming local council elections are extremely important for the Malta Labour Party.
Although only one-third of the population will be called to the polls on Saturday, the MLP is working hard to consolidate what it earned last year in the European Parliament and local council elections.
The MLP won three of the fives seats on the EP and did well at local council level too – but in real terms it had also lost votes. In fact, the MLP obtained 15,000 fewer votes than it had done in the 2003 general election.
Of course, one must keep in mind that whereas 97 per cent of the eligible voters had cast their vote in 2003, only 82 per cent had done so in the EP election last year. Percentage-wise, last year the MLP had actually made a slight improvement over 2003, a minimal increase of 0.9 per cent. Its loss of votes at the EP election could in no way be compared to that of the Nationalist Party, which lost a staggering 49,000 votes in a year.
Still, the MLP must realise that although in 2004 it did much better than the PN at national level (and also at local level), it must, however, continue to work hard to shift the so-called floating voters on its side.
Most of the disgruntled Nationalists either voted Alternattiva Demokratika or else simply did not turn up at voting centres last year.
The fact that the MLP, more or less, remained on the same level in percentage terms could be interpreted to mean that while it retained its core base of supporters, it still has to persuade that five to 10 per cent of the population who shift from one side to another depending on the circumstances that it is a party that could be trusted with governing the country.
The Labour Party has realised this and since last June has tried its best to, as a party in opposition normally does, put the government in bad light on several issues. In this, it has succeeded in several areas and has managed to score points.
The second role of an opposition is however to provide alternatives and this is where the MLP has not been able to fulfil its function as well as it did in its criticism. It has rarely come up with fresh ideas in the national interest, preferring just to criticise without offering other options.
When it did, such as by proposing the devaluation – or depreciation – of the lira, the matter did more harm than good to the party.
The MLP has, however, taken full advantage of the fact that without the onus of having to govern, it could concentrate in full on the party administration and on staying as close as possible to the people.
Over the past months, Labour has, almost daily, held activities to keep in touch with what the people are saying and feeling, and very often Labour leader Alfred Sant has taken the cue from such meetings to further his attacks on the government. People feel important when they hear their story being told in public (obviously without their names being mentioned) and it gives them a sense of belonging.
But this will not be enough to secure Labour a victory in three years’ time. Judging by the current political scenario, they will probably win Saturday’s election but this will in no way guarantee them overall victory some time in 2008. As explained several times, local council elections (and the one for the EP too) are understood by many as a chance to protest against the government but it does not necessarily mean that these same people will not vote PN in a general election.
This is why, apart from concentrating on its core, the MLP must address those five to 10 per cent floating voters. It is easy to be deemed credible by the hardliners; it is much more difficult to convince the rest that the MLP is a credible party, one that is able to lead the country.