I never found the right in Malta to be credible when it claims that the Labour Party benefits from a “natural” (or embedded) hardcore vote that is greater than that of the PN. I do not know where this fable originated from, for historically, the results of elections held over the years show a different picture. It is true however that in recent years there seems to have taken place a structural shift in the way by which “new” voters have positioned themselves between the parties – which has nothing to do with some Labour hardcore that is naturally larger.

Indeed the history of the last seventy years or so demonstrates that the Labour hardcore shrunk significantly over the years. In the 1950s and 1960s, a huge emigration of Maltese and Gozitans occurred towards Australia, Canada and the UK. In large part, emigrants were Labour families with children. This drained quite a chunk of voters actual and future, from the Labour “stock”. Massive outward emigration came to an end during the 1970’s.

I would guess that the right in Malta needs this myth of having always found itself at a disadvantage electorally in the number of their core voters to hide their fundamental problems of today which are not being successfully addressed.

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RESOLUTIONS

A procedure of the European Parliament with which I totally disagree is to regularly go about issuing resolutions about occurrences around the four quarters of the globe. Selectively, they apply “European” criteria to reach judgement over what is happening elsewhere.

In the mix of ideas that packages these resolutions, it is difficult to grasp what is exactly involved: whether principles regarding democratic standards that respect human rights (as is declared); or an expression of what is really in the interests of European powers; or an attempt to subject sundry political adversaries inside and outside the EU to criticism and denigration; or some  other objective.

And so one finds the right looking for left wing governments to target and the left doing likewise from their side of the fence. Of course, all Parliaments must retain the right to discuss whatever they want to discuss, but when the approach ends up looking like a shadow play, proceedings can certainlyend up shedding more fog than light. 

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OMICRON

In the past two or three weeks, like everybody, I was bombarded with views and forecasts about the latest variant of Covid 19. It spreads very fast – It is very dangerous – It is not so dangerous, after all – It has reached us from South Africa – Not so! – There’s a need for the vaccination effort to be beefed up, so children must now be vaccinated...

I am one of those who are determined to fully observe the precautions that are launched the authorities. But all this gives me the feeling that although more than a year and a half has passed since the pandemic first emerged, we still do not have a good knowledge regarding how resilient it is and to what extent it could persist and flourish. It is clear that the globalisation which accelerated during the last decades has given it an enormous space within which to survive and continue to spread.