More than half of the Maltese population had the opportunity to have their say in the local council election. The result reflected various views, both at a local level as well as on a national one
A substantial number of voters decided to express their view by staying away from the polling booth. More that 56% of those who actively took part in this democratic exercise gave their first preference to candidates representing the Labour Party.
From the point of view of the Nationalist Party the result was a very bad one, albeit hardly a surprise. One prominent exponent of the PN went as far to describe it as a political meltdown. Nevertheless, the PN media tried to create the spin that the even if the PN lost a large share of votes, the Labour party increased its number of votes just by double digits. This argument was repeated by some exponents in the media but now seems to be fast losing steam. Probably, the strategists controlling the GonziPN electoral machine realised that it is better to retrench rather than to persist in further insulting the intelligence of the people.
The initial line of argument pushed by GonziPN was that although the Labour Party increased substantially its share in percentage terms across the 35 localities over the last round of the local council elections it only managed to improve its vote tally by less than 300 votes. This represents a very naïve interpretation of the results. This is because in making such a comparison a basic fault is committed in that one is not comparing like with like. Using a common example, it is like comparing a basket including both oranges and apples with a basket consisting only of apples. One needs to compare apples with apples. Indeed, the previous round of elections in 13 out of the 35 localities contested in March coincided with the general election and in the case of Sliema with the MEP election in 2009. Given that in general election the turnover averages around 95%, it follows almost automatically that in those 13 localities both parties would experience a drop in their vote tally.
This was particularly the case in Gozo. Out of the eight localities where an election was held this year, two localities representing 35% of all total registered voters had their previous round in 2008. Without adjusting to this fact, the number of votes obtained by the Labour Party in Gozo during this round declined by 224 votes or 4.5% while the PN lost 672 votes or 9.8%. However, when excluding Nadur and Għajnsielem, where the previous election coincided with the 2008 general election, the numbers give a different picture. Indeed, the increase in votes for the Labour Party increases by 4.2% or 131 votes while the PN’s votes decline by 2.5% or 99 votes.
The results in Gozo also included the fact that Qala switched to Labour for the very first time and at the same time Labour retained its majority in Xagħra, which first switched to Labour in 2007 and was a prime target for the PN during this election round. Labour even managed to increase it vote tally in Xagħra.
Given these figures and results, is Labour safe and dry in terms of votes in Gozo? Should Labour take its foot off the accelerator and assume that its work is complete? The answer for both is a big no. Digging deeper into numbers, one realises that the number of registered votes in the contested localities in Gozo increased by 1,400 and by almost 2,000 when Nadur and Għajnsielem are included. This shows the extent of our task to continue working in convincing the electorate of our vision for Gozo.
Following these results, the present administration will increase its effort to stop the haemorrhage. In Gozo, the present administration knows only one way to do this. Consistent with past practice, it will increase the dose of clientelism to levels unseen before. It will continue to discriminate between Gozitans depending on their perceived alliances. It will continue to buy votes by promising public sector jobs, promotions and dishing out contracts. It will continue making the public sector in Gozo a laughing stock by moving people around and letting PN activists do as they please.
The PN’s response to rising discontent will be to draw up carefully planned actions targeted at the very core of the PN votes. The benefits – growing confidence – will be immediate, whereas paying the inevitable bill will be postponed to the future. But, I believe that this cynical and palliative action by the present administration will not be able to address the deeper anxieties of the electorate as deep down they know that at the end they will have to pay the price.
Anton Refalo is Labour’s spokesman for Gozo