Each time an election takes place there is a sizeable group of people who cast their vote for the first time. Those who have celebrated their 18th birthday since the 2003 election will have the opportunity to make their voice heard when Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi decides to call an election.

The question that is always asked in such circumstances is: where will the votes of the new generation of voters go? It is a question that is not easy to answer.

The facts for the new voters are the same as for those who have already played their part in the democratic system our country enjoys. But the way these young people perceive politics is probably different from the way it is seen by the rest of the voters.

For one thing, most of the people who today are aged between 18 and 22 – and who will be voting in a general election for the first time – were not even born when the Nationalist Party was elected to government in 1987 after several turbulent years under the Malta Labour Party. And they are probably too young to remember the two-year government of Dr Alfred Sant between 1996 and 1998.

The two major political parties will have a different approach with regard to the new voters.

The Nationalist Party will try to attract them by mentioning its track record over the past 10 years, the opportunities it is creating for the younger generation and the expectation that the future can only get better now that the fruits of Malta’s membership in the European Union is being reaped.

It will say that it has invested heavily in a university that has grown tenfold, and perhaps more, since the Labour days and has re-established the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology, which will now be further expanded to offer plenty more openings for our young people.

It will say that the job opportunities that are being created under the Nationalist government exceed the number of jobs that are being lost as the industrial sector moves on from being one based on low-end manufacturing to companies that operate in the high value added sector.

On the other hand, the Malta Labour Party will insist that 20 years of government – except for those two years mentioned earlier – have taken their toll on the Nationalist Party and that the time has come for a change in the administration.

It will say that it will continue to give education top priority and that it will work to safeguard existing jobs as well as create new opportunities. It will say that its new style of government will bring about a much-needed change in the way politics work in Malta.

It will say that it has no problem with the introduction of the euro, which will replace the Maltese lira, but that it will see that the changeover will not result in added costs. It will say that the many obstacles faced today by young people who want their own home will be reduced to make life easier for them.

And what will the two other parties that will be contesting the election tell the new voters? Alternattiva Demokratika and Azzjoni Nazzjonali will say that the two-party system that has been “in force” in Malta since independence is outdated and that the country needs a third and fourth voice in Parliament.

They will say that it is only by ensuring that the status quo is done away with that Malta can move on to pastures new and a better way of administration. And they will say that now is the best time to do it, as the PN has been in government for too long and the MLP is still not the alternative government it portrays itself to be.

The young people who will be voting for the first time will listen to all this before they make their choice. Their other option, of course, is not to exercise their right to vote, but whatever they choose, their impact on the outcome of the general election will be important.