We have entered the final week of the election campaign, with polling set for Saturday, just a few days away.
The ante has been upped, with the Nationalist Party seemingly asking its supporters to canvas for the party to get re-elected by “convincing two people” to vote for the PN. Labour, on the other hand, has continued to emphasize the point of meritocracy, unity and social justice.
The PN’s deputy leader, Simon Busuttil, yesterday said that the party is banking on the “extraordinarily high” number of undecided voters to swing its way in the final days of the campaign. If the opinion polls are to be believed, the PN is trailing Labour by more than ten percentage points, which translates to a majority that could even be in excess of 30,000 votes. Such a pronounced gap is unprecedented in local politics, with the greatest margin of victory since independence being 12,996 first count votes for the PN in 1992, which represented a 5.27% gap. On the other hand, as many as a quarter of respondents are refusing to reveal their voting intentions, and this is what the PN is banking on, a last minute switch.
But asked yesterday by The Malta Independent, Dr Busuttil said the party is “realistic about its chances” but will nevertheless work tirelessly till the last moment to persuade undecided voters. It seems that after the last election in 2008, which was won by a whisker by the PN, this time round, it’s a bridge too far.
Meanwhile, the PL is also trying to win the vote of the undecided voters. PL leader Joseph Muscat made a very marked point of telling those who might stay away on polling day, that the gesture is not enough and that a Labour vote will improve their lives. In a direct message to the 12,000 people who have not yet collected their voting document, Dr Muscat said: “It is much better to collect your voting document and vote for change as it is useless to complain afterwards,” he said. Dr Muscat says that the PL remains the underdog, but that seems to be a bit off the mark.
The PL leader has also urged voters to get their early and cast their vote, probably to try and prevent a situation like last time round when a substantial number of PN supporters had a last minute change of heart and decided to vote.
As we have said before, a day is a long time in politics and much can still happen in the lead up to the final day. But we are getting very close now, and it come Saturday, the die will be cast. It will be a whirlwind in the days after the election. After the jubilation and celebrations, no matter who wins, there is the small matter of a very important European Council meeting in Brussels to see too. Will it be a triumphant return for Dr Gonzi, who is well respected among political leaders? Or will it be a baptism of fire for Joseph Muscat, the former MEP? Time will tell, but the moment of reckoning is not far away – it is only a matter of days now, and at least, whoever wins, we might be spared this atmosphere of tension and stress that has gripped the nation over this excruciatingly long electoral campaign.