More than half of the election campaign is over, and we now expect the momentum to be raised in last-ditch attempts by the political parties to convince the electorate that they are the better choice.

Actually, these efforts are for that small part of the population which has not yet made up its mind. The majority of us already know what we are going to do, possibly even the candidate to whom we will give our number one preference. Some will not bother to turn up, and theirs is also an important “vote” on how they see the country developing.

But there is a chunk of the electorate – the one that normally decides which party is elected to govern – that is still to decide the party they will vote for.

Surveys continue to show that Labour still has a sizeable lead and looks set to win a third consecutive term in office.

But the margin of victory will be of great significance.

Will Robert Abela manage to do better than Joseph Muscat? Will he more or less keep the same lead? Or will he lose a good chunk of the advantage Labour built in the last two elections?

The answers to these questions will determine whether Abela enters the next legislature in a stronger position, or whether his leadership starts to be questioned.

They will also define Bernard Grech’s future. A status quo or an even bigger defeat will push him out of the PN top spot, but his denting of the PL’s lead might give him another five years in the main office at Pieta’. Unless there is another uprising against him as there was against his predecessor.

Campaigns

It is natural, and expected, that political parties use election campaigns to present their ideas for the next five years, while denigrating those of the other side.

What has stood out, in this particular campaign, is the extent of their promises.

Both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party think that the country, and its people, are some kind of charitable institution which needs the government’s help to survive. It’s like the PL and PN look at the people that elect them as beggars, waiting for the crumbs that fall of the table while politicians are eating scrumptious meals.

It’s like the political parties think that the government should be there for us every step of the way. It’s a kind of culture that encourages people to be lazy, because the government will be there to help whatever the circumstances and at whatever age.

In the past, electoral programmes did include measures by which the political parties aimed to, first of all, win votes, and secondly to improve the general well-being of the population.

But this time both of them have gone to the extreme, and are promising everything to everyone. They pledge to cut taxes, pay for house loans, increase allowances, pensions and grants, and lots more. They even went as far as pledging free contraception or to waive traffic contraventions.

The only thing they left out in their promises is offering to do the shopping and make the beds in the morning. Or take our dogs for a walk.

Robert Abela and Bernard Grech went as far as promising better salaries for teachers. The Malta Union of Teachers was quick to welcome the suggestion. We’re sure it would have been a different story if anyone spoke about reducing holidays. The MUT did not complain that schools were closed for Carnival even though no Carnival took place this year. Will there be more holidays when Carnival takes place in May?

The PN seems to have fallen into the same idea propagated by Labour, that is to offer people gifts.

Since the Labour Party was elected to government in 2013, it has given a new meaning to the panem et circenses concept. By keeping the people happy, Labour has managed to cover up so many scandals, some of which have dented Malta’s credibility and reputation.

It kept the people happy by dishing out tax refunds and other gifts, the latest being the minimum €100 each and every one of us will be getting. It kept businesses happy too by intervening during the Covid pandemic. And it struck a chord with both the public at large and entrepreneurs when it came up with the vouchers system – twice – to give free meals to citizens while the restaurant owners still got paid.

Promises

So it was almost natural that the Labour Party is promising to give more and more in its third consecutive term in office.

The Nationalist Party has understood this, and has itself come up with its list of goodies.

They are competing for the title of the most populist party, although both of them will deny it and point fingers in the opposite direction. But it is clear that they are trying their hardest to win votes not by offering new policies or strengthen existing ones. What they’re doing is trying to attract voters with a list of gifts they intend to hand out.

The culture that was instilled in the last decade or so – that the government will be there to hold your hand no matter what – will spread further. And it will be very difficult to come back from this. People get used to good things, and whichever government will, in the future, choose not to carry on with this practice, or will not be in a position to continue, will be frowned upon.

What people do not realise is that they are being taken from a ride.

Tax refund cheques are being given out because we are being over-taxed. We are paying more taxes than we should, and then we applaud the government for giving us back what we should not have paid up in the first place.

Very much in the same way, the Nationalist Party is saying that extra money paid in electricity bills will be given back. So consumers will be given what they should have never paid in the first place.

Speaking of energy, the Prime Minister was quite insensitive when he said that “no matter what happens in Ukraine”, the government will ensure that the price of energy will remain stable.

What’s more important, for Abela, is earning a few extra votes by saying that there will be no price increases. The plight of the Ukrainian people, as they face an invasion of their territory which is resulting in multiple deaths, comes secondary to the PM.

Numbers

Both parties are boasting about the long list of measures they say they will implement if they are elected to government.

If the PN says it has 553 promises in its manifesto and will have another 270 more specific items in the making, then Labour comes up with its 1,000 proposals.

That’s more than 16 a month for Labour, or four per week; and nearly 14 per month for the PN, or just more than three per week for the PN.

Wow. Big numbers indeed. If the country needs to do so much and needs so much change, what were political parties doing in the past years? In particular, if Labour thinks it can improve our lives by 1,000 ideas, why wait for an election to come to say they will do them? Why weren’t they done in the last five years?

The so-called Gahan – and there are many on the PN side too, not only on the Labour side, as admitted by Minister Edward Zammit Lewis – will be blinded by these numbers. Politicians know how to impress. Seeing their fans jumping up from their seats, clapping their hands, salivating, makes them realise how much power they have. 

And while at it, spare a thought for the poor ministers who will have so much on their plate. They will barely have time to sleep to be able to implement all the promises in the manifesto.

Not only gifts

It is not only in money matters that both the Labour and Nationalist parties are becoming more and more populist.

We saw it in the recent implementation of the cannabis law, by which the Labour government wanted to please junkies.

We saw it in the way Labour – with the support of the Opposition – wanted to enact a law making the killing of a woman more punishable than the killing of a man, just to please the feminists.

This latter law did not make it through Parliament in time before it was dissolved. It’s hoped that it will be reconsidered before it is presented again in the new legislature.

There is no doubt that we will have more such instances as time goes by.

Both main parties do not like being labelled as populists, and any populist measure they are promising is camouflaged.

But we have learnt to see through their charades.

They like to think of us as being all a Gahan of sorts. But not all of us are.