Who is to say why people vote for this or that political party?

Unless there is a psychic out there who can predict people’s preferences just by looking at them, the reasons could be so complex as to be unfathomable, and so simple as to be almost naïve.

The reasons for voting Labour or Nationalist don’t always have to do with principles or ideology, but more in the realm of “what’s in it for me?” This is followed closely by, “what have you done for me lately?” and ‘no______ (fill in the blank), no vote’.

Leaving aside those whose politics is part of their DNA (“my family has always voted Labour/Nationalist so I will too”) and those who feel very strongly about their vote because they have been personally affected by a certain administration’s policies… you are left with the Alternattiva Demokratika supporters and an increasing number of floating voters.

It is this wily, elusive mass that usually decides elections, and it is this segment of the population that so worries our politicians. These are the voters who won’t be found on any party “list”, and who have no qualms about switching allegiances because their political convictions aren’t set in stone.

Even more infuriating for the electoral campaign managers is that relatively new breed: those who decide to steadfastly stay at home and not vote.

There are many greatly disenchanted Nationalists who are even furious with the present government… but who would rather commit slow, tortuous hara-kiri than vote Labour.

Likewise, you have people who come from a Labour background who are still not happy with Dr Alfred Sant as leader, and can’t quite bring themselves to give him their vote (and yet would never – God forbid! – vote PN either).

For these two types, of course, there is the dilemma that by staying away from the ballot boxes they are “giving” the election away to the other side, who will win by default. It’s no coincidence that pro-Nationalist commentators keep drumming into people “remember what happened in 1996”.

Oooohhh, how scary…

I think the biggest hurdle facing those who are trying to whip up people’s sentiments is that everything has shifted now that the EU is no longer an issue. What on earth are they going to get people excited about? With Labour seeming to agree about everything, from the euro to SmartCity, I imagine the PN strategists gnawing their fingernails in frustration (darn that blasted Alfred Sant!)

Meanwhile, since the last hot and heavy election, there have been other changes.

I keep hearing more and more traditional PN voters speaking in scathing terms about certain government ministers. And I mean scathing – in tones so sour they are enough to curdle milk.

There are many things that are causing revulsion; things like the Prime Minister arrogantly saying, “I will win the next election”. Okay, if you say so.

There are also some very pressing national concerns this administration seems to have taken much too lightly. There’s that little issue of spring hunting for a start, development zones, divorce, Mater ‘Dejn’... shall I go on?

Suddenly, Labour and Sant are starting to seem like downright pussycats.

Of course, some reading this will be spluttering “yeah, right!” They will point to the shouts of “viva l-Labour” during the hunters’ protest and subsequent bashing of journalists and photographers, as if that is proof that Labour party supporters are all violent.

But is this really an accurate assessment of half the population? For every hotheaded, Neanderthal hunter, there is a quiet, unassuming ordinary voter who minds his or her own business and just wants to lead a better life.

I think people seem to forget that while the roots of the Labour Party emerged from the unsophisticated working class, their children have now grown up and in many cases, they are better educated, more worldly and are what some like to refer to as “thinking, intelligent voters”.

And hum, no – that does not automatically mean they will vote Nationalist.

The socio-economic blurring of who is who means that the middle class is no longer so easily segregated according to who your father is, your hometown, your language and your alma mater. Sure there are people who still think in these terms, but they tend to stick to “their own kind” anyway, and never venture out into the real world.

Should we be surprised that AD has become a welcome haven for so many who are heartily sick of this elitist mentality?

The fact is that no longer can the right wing resort to painting Labour as hamalli (vulgar) and Nationalists as puliti (well-bred) in order to manipulate people into wanting to be associated with “the higher classes”.

Please, this is the myth that keeps being trotted out in every election year, but it no longer holds any water. Cover up the flags at any PN/MLP mass meeting, have a look at the people and I defy you to say which is which. The same holds true for the TV stations, which are a mirror of their party. In the beginning Net TV had an edge over Super One for its slickness and polish, but this is no longer the case as it slides more and more into hapless mediocrity.

And finally, there’s the newest assertion: whom you vote for has to do with your IQ.

This suggestion is not only arrogant but also downright insulting. I’ve met very ignorant people from all sides of the political spectrum… and their ignorance doesn’t stem so much from lack of schooling or grey matter as from blinkered narrow-mindedness.

It is this kind of high-handed arrogance that has tainted the whole Nationalist Party and which makes people who are “intelligent” sick to their

stomach.