The campaign for the European Parliament and local council elections has come to a close, the people have cast their vote, and the country now awaits the results.
Today, the counting of votes cast for the European Parliament elections will take place, while vote counting for the local council elections will be held over three days this coming week.
It was a heavy electoral campaign, mostly overshadowed by arraignments tied to the annulled hospitals deal.
There’s a lot on the line for both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party. While it is pretty much a given that the Labour Party will have the most votes as surveys in the run up to voting day have shown, the question as to the number of seats they will attain remains.
The Nationalist Party is aiming to achieve three seats, as it had done in 2014 despite having received 33,000 votes fewer than its rival during that election. There is also the possibility that a third party or independent candidate might be voted in as an MEP. Arnold Cassola, for instance, in a recent Times of Malta survey, was said to be in third place in terms of first count votes.
The two frontrunners in surveys, unsurprisingly, have been Roberta Metsola, EU Parliament President, and Alex Agius Saliba, who is the only sitting PL MEP to have contested. For other candidates, it will depend on the inheritance of votes.
The official results are expected to be known after 11pm tonight; however the parties will undoubtedly have a clearer idea long before then, at least when it comes to which party received the most votes.
During the campaign, the Nationalist Party focused heavily on the Vitals inquiry and the subsequence court arraignments against Labour top officials, while the Labour Party relied on the power of incumbency and circling the wagons through the use of the term ‘the establishment’.
The inquiry
A magisterial inquiry delving into the criminal aspect of the hospitals deal concluded at the end of April. The courts had annulled the infamous hospitals deal in February 2023, in a damning judgement citing fraud, and the Court of Appeal confirmed that decision, in a judgement that mentioned collusion last October.
While this was happening, the magisterial inquiry was ongoing, and it came to conclusion at the end of April. Soon after, serious criminal charges were filed against past and present Labour Party officials, including former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his former Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, former Minister Konrad Mizzi, Chris Fearne – who resigned as Deputy Prime Minister and minister after the news of the charges broke, and Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna, who is hanging on to his post.
It was a political earthquake, a dark moment, the first time in the country’s history that a former prime minister has been criminally charged. The cases will likely be long ones, as over 78 boxes of evidence were seen in the middle of the court room.
Prime Minister Robert Abela was criticised for the road he took, where instead of taking a stand against the crimes allegedly committed, he brought into question the timing of the conclusion of the inquiry, being so close to the MEP and local council elections. He frequently questioned the inquiry process. He was seen to be acting more like a political party leader, than the Prime Minister of a country.
His statements resulted in calls from various sectors for his attacks on the judiciary to stop, and for the Prime Minister to control his statements.
Three protests took place, one by student organisations defending the judiciary, one by the Opposition and one by a number of organisations.
Abela’s statements about some journalists and ‘the establishment’ also saw him criticised for attacking the media.
The Nationalist Party, during its activities, targeted Abela’s comments and hospitals deal, while the Labour Party spearheaded by Abela used the phrase ‘the establishment’ to create a common enemy for PL supporters, and also said that the PN’s only manifesto for the election was the inquiry itself.
Some of Joseph Muscat’s closest allies called on his supporters to show up outside the court in solidarity with the former Prime Minister on the day he, Mizzi, Schembri and others were to have their first sitting. Hundreds turned up to show their support for Muscat. The sitting, which took a number of hours, saw Muscat, Mizzi, Schembri and others plead not guilty. The next day Fearne, Scicluna and others had their first court appearance. They also told the court that they were not guilty. But that sitting ended in some confusion with the process stalling, after it emerged that one of those accused in this case – DF Advocates – had not been notified for the proceedings.
Criticism was levelled by NGO Repubblika about the Attorney General, Victoria Buttigieg, and Police commissioner Angelo Gafa, as they were not seen anywhere near the courtrooms during such important sittings.
Power of incumbency
As this was going on, the government was announcing measure after measure to put money in people’s pockets. Prime Minister Abela insisted that the recent wave of “distributions” is part of an ongoing programme initiated since the general elections of March 2022.
However, the sheer amount of measures raised questions. Just a few of these were the announcement of six study loan schemes worth a total of €6.75 million, two adjustment processes to increase the pensions for 7,000 widows and 6,500 service pensioners were concluded with them receiving their dues, the announcement of €10 million financial aid to enterprises which want to invest in training for their workers, the announcement that around 9,600 families will receive a grant of €500 annually for three years for children who continue their studies beyond compulsory education, the announcement that 5,200 first-time buyers were to receive a cheque for €1,000 as part of the €10,000-over-10-years scheme to assist new homeowners and that money arriving, the tax refund being issued when these cheques are normally distributed in March but this year came May.
The government also mentioned major health sector plans during the electoral campaign. First, it unveiled a new master plan for the Gozo general hospital. The master plan shows that a new acute hospital is going to be built, which will have a capacity for 400 beds. Then the Malta Independent on Sunday revealed that the government had shared plans to create 600 new beds at Mater Dei Hospital with medical professionals who work at the country’s main medical facility. The Health Minister made the official announcement days later.
But PN MP Adrian Delia pointed out that investment in the health sector should have been made by the concessionaires in the annulled deal. "These are the projects that we have already paid for through our nose, correct? This is the new hospital that had to be built in Gozo with 450 beds, correct? This is the increase of more than 400 beds that we were expecting in Malta, albeit at the St Luke's site, now being proposed at Mater Dei,” Delia had told this newsroom.
Peace
The issue of neutrality and peace was also an issue that was brought up during the electoral campaigns.
Labour Party exponents painted the PN as being warmongers. The issue surrounded defence spending. This followed on from statements by Roberta Metsola that the EU needs to improve its defence capabilities, and proposals by the EPP (which PN MEPs form part of) regarding defence spending. It was one of the Labour Party’s main talking points during the campaign.
The PL, and Prime Minister Robert Abela, said many times that it will always push for peace in all fora, including the issue of peace as a main point in its MEP election manifesto, while saying the PN wants to increase arms spending. Abela had also implied that the PN wants to send people’s children to war.
EU Parliament President Metsola had told this newsroom, in reaction to criticism, that “I am in favour of peace. At the end of the day, would there be anyone in their right mind who believes that I want war?”
"What bothers me most is the hypocrisy,” she said. “The Prime Minister and the Labour Party go to the Armed Forces, make a celebration out of the inauguration of a naval vessel we obtained thanks to EU funds, and say that it is thanks to EU funds and that it is to increase our defence; but then complain about defence spending. When we talk about defence we are also talking about cyber-security. Imagine if someone hacked MITA, would that mean that safeguarding our technological infrastructure now means investing in war?"
She said that there are pieces of legislation and conclusions that pass through the EU Council with Maltese Ministers and the Prime Minister saying ok to conclusions that are referring to increased spending in defence and security. "That is what is needed in terms of preparedness in this period of geo-political instability we are living in. I think it would frankly be irresponsible not to be careful" in terms of cybersecurity, "and ensuring that our citizens feel secure as ultimately security is about making sure our people feel safe."
She also mentioned defending fishermen as another example. There have been reports over the years of Maltese fishermen being threatened by boats from Tunisia during the lampuki season, for example.
During the campaign, Labour Party exponents also poked fun at their political rivals, the PN, over their MEP manifesto being short and saying that it didn’t even touch upon many important topics.
Another issue during the election was the Siggiewi voter fraud cases. The PN won all of the related cases and said that all the persons who were illegally and abusively registered to be living in a Siggiewi block which is still uninhabitable will have their address reversed to their previous place of residence. In 2019, Labour had won a majority in the Siġġiewi local council for the first time since local elections started being held with a mere 70-vote advantage. In one of the cases, a magistrate ordered the police to investigate and identify the public officials and entities who had manipulated voters into changing their address to a Siġġiewi construction site ahead of the MEP and local council elections.
One PN MEP candidate, Peter Agius, later came under fire from the Labour Party over his address. Photos were posted showing that his registered address in Triq ir-Rebbiegha, Mosta, was seemingly an uninhabited, unfinished apartment. In a video later, Agius spoke while walking around the office he said is his residence, showing a kitchen and bathroom with a shower. He said that he sold his old home in Attard, which is why he changed his ID card to this location. He said he rented another maisonette in the meantime and has now finished this location, saying this is his official residence.
The outcome of the elections will undoubtedly have an effect locally. The country could face a situation where both parties might claim victory, if both the PN and PL have three MEPs elected each, as the PL will definitely have more votes.
There is also the question as to by how many votes the Labour Party will win by, and the possibility of a third party or independent candidate winning an MEP seat for the first time.