Former third party leaders Marlene Farrugia and Michael Briguglio told The Malta Independent on Sunday that halfway through this general election campaign, they are both concerned about the bombardment of "disjointed" proposals being made by both major parties.

This week marked the halfway point of this general election campaign, between the day when Prime Minister Robert Abela called this early election, on 27 April, and election day, 30 May.

This newsroom reached out to ex-politicians Michael Briguglio and Marlene Farrugia to ask them on their thoughts on this election campaign so far, the differences they observed between this campaign and past ones, any shortcomings, and what they would like to see until the people vote.

Briguglio and Farrugia headed the two sides that later merged to form what is today known as ADPD (The Green Party). Briguglio is Alternattiva Demokratika's (AD) ex-chairperson while Farrugia is the Democratic Party's (PD) founder and ex-leader. Both former politicians worked alongside the major political parties in the country at some point as well.

While Briguglio left AD to align with the PN in 2017, Farrugia ran on both the PN's and the PL's electoral ballots throughout her career. She was elected to Parliament as a PL candidate in 2008 and 2013 before breaking away from Labour in 2015, in the middle of the 12th legislature. She then formed PD, which before the 2017 election, formed an alliance with the Nationalist Party, and she had been elected.

Farrugia noted that when she contested the 2013 general election with the Labour Party, "we didn't have such longshot proposals" in comparison to the measures being announced this time round.

When asked what stands out in this campaign so far, Farrugia said that the measures "being thrown at the people" have reached a new level not seen before.

"It's like two children trying to promise more [than the other]," Farrugia said.

Similarly, Briguglio stated that while this is not the first general election campaign to feature "questionable proposals", in his view, "this one takes the biscuit". He told this newsroom that with so many pledges already made, he believes that "it's becoming ridiculous" that many people are seeing through these pitched policies.

"Every day we are being bombarded with proposals; to me, it seems that many of them are knee-jerk proposals. One party proposes something, then the other proposes something similar. It does not seem very rational," Briguglio said.

"The most striking thing, and it's very worrying, is that both major parties are pushing out many, many proposals," he said. "To me, as a sociologist, it is quite clear that many of these policies are not based on evidence or consultation."

Briguglio, who is an Associate Professor within the University of Malta's Department of Sociology, stated that, in his view, many of the pledges made don't seem to have been proposed on long-term thinking. He added that "proper policymaking" should feature consultation processes that factor in different kinds of impacts, for example, social and environmental, "and it seems like there is none of this".

"I don't think they are sustainable - it seems like money is no problem. I doubt whether any government can carry out all the proposals being proposed," he said.

Farrugia said that despite all the announced pledges, the major parties' visions for the country remain unclear. Referencing Vision 2050, she said that, even in this set long-term strategy, "it covers everything, but it covers nothing". She fears that if major parties don't iron this out, they may push many voters to vote for the ultranationalist third party Imperium Europa.

"So far, I see a mist in their proposals - not something concrete, or even worse, I see that if we continue in this line, it would be totally catastrophic," she said.

Likewise, Briguglio commented that parties should outline the direction they want to take the country and not just announce measures without stating exactly what they will lead to in the long-term.

Positively, both Briguglio and Farrugia complimented how third parties are going about this campaign. Farrugia said that they are being clear in the direction they want to take the country. The former said it's "refreshing" that ADPD and Partit Momentum are being vocal that money doesn't fall from the sky.

Both former politicians also told this newsroom that despite this election campaign being characterised, so far, by the sheer quantity of pledges from both major sides, both the PN and the PL have not yet mentioned how they intend to address "the elephants in the room" that is, some of the country's greatest issues.

Farrugia stated that both Labour and Nationalists are "scared" of discussing "the priorities", example immigration and foreign workers, women's rights, and Malta's "population problem" because their campaigns are unstructured and because their respective ideologies "are too close to call".

"They are scared to face them head-on; they are scared to speak about them. Proposals indicate that the present government and Opposition are ready to invest in any sectors, except for this: for women to feel safe to have children, have peace of mind, and have a roof over their heads where their children can be well-educated and build a fruitful life in their own country," she said.

In this regard, Farrugia pointed towards Malta's all-time low and ever-decreasing fertility rate as one prominent example, stating that "Maltese women are scared of having children". According to Eurostat, in 2024, Malta's fertility rate dropped to 1.01 live births per woman. Malta's fertility rate in 1990, 34 years prior, stood at 2.02 live births per woman, that is, double these latest results.

"So what if we increase maternal leave? What about after that first year?" Farrugia said, noting that no proposals have been shared so far to curb this worrisome demographic trend.

Briguglio noted that, so far, the election campaign has not been marked by mudslinging or accusations from one side to the other. He said that "it's refreshing to not have a campaign where politicians are being attacked for who they are", though clarifying that this doesn't mean that corruption shouldn't be a factor in a given campaign.

The only semblance of dirt thrown halfway through this general election campaign came when Prime Minister Robert Abela claimed that an alleged fuel smuggler and money-launderer gave the Nationalist Party its pitch to develop a new offshore Mediterranean maritime fuel hub at Hurd's Bank; Abela said that he knew this because the same "contrabandist" had similarly approached him, before he opted not to go ahead with it. PN leader Alex Borg denied this claim, going as far as presenting a sworn declaration (affidavit) to the media to firmly deny that he ever met a fuel smuggler or anyone involved in related criminal activity. The Prime Minister defended meeting this, so far, unknown person, arguing that it is his duty to meet everyone.

Despite attention in this saga shifting towards Abela, the Nationalist Party has kept its focus on its own proposals rather than repositioning to focus on putting the Prime Minister under a bad light.

Farrugia concluded that in the remainder of this campaign, the PN must be clearer in its communications to the people. In regard to the PL, "pity to those who trust it" she said citing that its track record of "squandered money" and "nothing addressed" following magisterial inquiries proves to be "totally pathetic and disastrous".

She said that PL voters "would be making a mistake" to vote for them again, though hopes that they "at least" vote for people with integrity while distrusting the same ones "who caused so much damage and debt to the country". She added that the PN must explain its vision and how it aims to get there, rather than "get caught in the trap" that it must respond to the Labour Party.