Just in case you have not noticed, we are right in the middle of an election campaign. Things might calm down for a few days over Christmas, but it will only be the lull before the storm in the build up to the 2013 election. Or maybe 2012 – who knows?
Sometimes I wonder whether we actually manage to disengage ourselves from election mode between one poll and another. It seems that this country is in a perennial political crusade that is further fuelled by the fact that we have only two major parties that are at each other’s throats each and every day.
This time, the situation appears to be even worse. Of course, it can never be compared to the political climate we had before the 1987 election, when the country’s democracy was at stake. On that occasion, people were voting for more than just a new government. It was a dark period in Malta’s history, with political violence dominating the headlines and instilling fear in all sectors of society, young and old alike.
Thankfully, we have moved on from those unhappy times, and it is positive that “attacks” are limited to verbal exchanges of ideas. We may agree, and we may agree to disagree, but what is important is that it is just a battle of wits and vision, not one of bombs and tear-gas.
When I say the situation is worse it is because we are constantly being bombarded by politics. As well as newspapers, television and radio stations and web portals, politics has also found fertile ground in the social media, which has exploded into our homes and offices since the last time we went to vote.
No doubt, the frenzy will increase with the more time that passes, and the closer the election draws.
This state of affairs is unprecedented in this country, simply because the result of the last election was exceptional. Before March 2008, no political party had won three elections in a row – apart from when the Labour Party continued to govern in spite of obtaining a minority of votes in 1981, a perverse victory that led to the tumultuous times and the constitutional crisis to which I referred earlier.
It must also be remembered that, except for a brief 22-month stint, the Nationalists have been governing the country since 1987.
And it is precisely because the Nationalist Party has been in power for so long that, ironically, all the pressure is on the Labour Party. It would be no surprise if Joseph Muscat leads Labour to a victory; but it will definitely be one if Lawrence Gonzi crosses the line first.
The Nationalist Party would take a defeat in its stride, and use it to enable the party to recharge its batteries and rebuild itself from within. But the blow of a defeat would be devastating for the Labour Party. If it loses again, I just wonder what the future may hold for the PL.
The present-day Labour Party is trying hard to liken the current term under the Nationalist government to its own 1981-1987 tenure. It is drawing parallels between what we are going through today and what happened in those violent years and, frankly, it is making a big mistake here. Because it is impossible to make comparisons between the poor economic structure we had in the 1980s, and the strong economic basis that has been built since then, one that is enabling Malta to survive the storm that is engulfing the rest of the world, with just a few dents here and there.
It is equally ridiculous to try to equate the blatantly one-sided pro-Labour national broadcasting station we had in the 1980s – when the Opposition Leader’s name was not even mentioned – to the programming we have today, with guests representing the PL given as much air time as their political adversaries.
Not to mention the fact that Labour has its own radio and television stations when, in the 1980s, the Nationalist Party had to resort to broadcasting grainy footage and services from nearby Sicily just to give itself a voice on TV.
All this is doing Labour more harm than good.
Joseph Muscat (and the Labour Party) would come across much better with the floating voters – those who ultimately sway the election one way or another – if he talks the way he did during the ceremony held to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Maltese Parliament’s first sitting. I do not agree with everything that he proposed, but his speech did his credibility a world of good.
But he must be more consistent. When he, his party or the Labour media tackle issues that bring the 1980s back to mind, it can only serve to re-ignite pro-PN fervour.
Mind you, the Nationalist Party has its flaws. This term there have been too many occasions when the Prime Minister has had to juggle the day-to-day running of the country with the internal strife created in his own party and government, which has resulted in an unnecessary waste of energy.
Having said this, the country has overcome, and is still overcoming, stiff challenges that have been brought about not because of its own demerits, but due to a series of international circumstances that have rocked the entire system.
To go back to the central argument of this piece, I think that hyping up the electorate into a frenzy of political campaigning so early could have a negative effect. We have had both leaders referring to the election in no uncertain terms: Dr Gonzi was almost forced to comment about it when beleaguered minister Austin Gatt said the PN will stay in power for the next 20 years, while Dr Muscat continues to refer to the “months” that remain between now and the election in a bid to raise his supporters’ expectations.
Normally, in the run-up to an election, there is a slowdown of activities as the country faces the uncertainty of the political outcome. In the prevailing economic situation, where every small dip can have serious repercussions, a long period of election fever could be devastating.
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