The Malta Labour Party, predictably, has won last Saturday’s round of local council elections, making it four wins out of four since 2004 in such polls, five out of five if one were to consider the European Parliament elections held three years ago.
The results carry even more significance for Labour if one were to also consider the fact that the MLP has gained the locality of Gzira, which the Nationalist Party had led for the last three years, and for the first time obtained a majority of councillors in what were previously considered as Nationalist strongholds – in Mosta and Xaghra.
The MLP has also made inroads in other localities, pushing back the Nationalist Party as the gap between the two traditional major parties increased. In the 22 localities where the elections were held, the MLP won 53 per cent to the PN’s 44 per cent, a nine per cent difference that says it all. From a 68-68 situation in terms of number of councillors won by each party in 2004, we have now moved to a 73-64 situation in favour of the MLP.
The loss of five PN councillors in Mosta, Gzira, Xaghra, San Lawrenz and Zebbug, added to a decrease of popularity in other localities – for example, in Safi and Munxar the PN held on to its majority by just two votes – makes the picture clearer in many aspects, and the addition of one extra PN councillor in Floriana does little to make up for the overall setback suffered by the party in government.
Saturday’s elections confirmed the trend that has taken over the country ever since Malta voted in favour of European Union membership in March 2003, and quickly followed it up by returning the PN to government a month later in what was an EU-charged election.
Since then, it has been Labour Party victories all along. Victories that mean much less than a national election, but they are victories nonetheless and, considering that they have come in quick succession, should give Labour more confidence for what should be the most important task – the national election.
It is justified that the Labour Party is in a euphoric mood, although they must understand – and we are in no doubt that they do – that all of this would have been useless unless the momentum takes them to a win at national level.
Voter turnout, at 68 per cent, is much less than what we usually get in national polls, and the PN is clinging to this to defend itself following the results. It is a known fact that the PN finds it harder to mobilise its supporters for local council elections than Labour does. But rather than choosing to go for a strong campaign as the MLP did - with Labour top officials visiting practically all localities, and some more than once - the PN still opted for a quieter one.
Yet the PN would be wrong to assume that Saturday’s defeat was only a result of its supporters’ indifference. There are other signs that the party has to look at in its bid to win the national election for the third time running.
Alternattiva Demokratika, for its part, managed to get two councillors elected and was close in another locality, Munxar. This should serve as an encouragement for the Green Party, especially considering that the 2.2 per cent of the votes gained were based on seven localities where it contested.
Following the official reactions given yesterday, the three political parties will be analysing the results in much more detail in the coming weeks. They will see where they went wrong and what could have been done better as they prepare for the national election. All know that much more will be at stake then.