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Election Playbook: Labour rights, Nationalist wrongs
An election playbook exclusive: PN unveils its campaign slogan, but its website has already been stolen by Labour! – this was day one of the election season
2 May 2024, 6:30am
Nicole Meilak
Nicole Meilak
3 min read
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Make hay on Workers’ Day: The Nationalist Party unveiled its campaign slogan: Għalik (in English, ‘For you’). Its short and sweet, the branding is simple, surely this could win them that third seat? Alas, the Labour Party has already registered the domain ghalik.com, and it redirects to a webpage with the same Nationalist Party branding, but with a Labour-made video about how the Nationalists are selfish politicians that just want power for themselves. “Għalihom, mhux għalik” is the counter slogan. Labour also seems to have registered a Youtube channel under the same name. An embarrassing faux pas on the PN’s part, but I guess all’s fair in love and politics.
Post publication update: The PN hit back with billboards and a counter slogan of their own - "Sraqna lill-Maltin". Good on them!
Video killed the Nationalist Party: It was a rough campaign launch for the Nationalist Party. Apart from Labour hijacking their website domain, the broadcast of their launch was riddled with technical difficulties. The stream kept freezing, the audio kept cutting, and it was half-way through Bernard Grech’s speech when Net TV gave up and cut to an advert of a lovely lady showcasing “il-famużi three-quarters ta’ kull sena” that you can purchase from Marcon Group.
Agitprop hour: Propaganda takes many forms – music and fashion are some of them. In terms of music, the Labour Party launched its election song under the same title as its slogan. It's catchy, but sounds familiar. It almost feels like an AI was asked to produce a song in the style of Avicii. Now for the fashion, the rally-goers did not miss! Spotted at the PN campaign launch was a t-shirt, in quintessential Nationalist Party blue™, with the words ‘Nivvota Labour? NZABBAB. F I L MILL-QALB’. It's a cultural artefact, hang it in Dar Ċentrali!
Who’s afraid of Joseph Muscat?: Not Clint Flores (pardon, Clint *Azzopardi* Flores). Indeed, on 15 May he’s holding an event at the Mellieħa Labour centre for an activity targeted at voters from the 12th district. His special guest is none other than Joseph Muscat, who is in hot water with the conclusion of the Vitals inquiry, with some sort of action expected to be taken against him. Fun fact, I’m playing a little election bingo, and Joseph Muscat attending a candidate rally was on my card. Let’s hope no action is taken before he actually attends!
Workers’ Day run-down: ADPD held a press conference, but the two main parties went to town in their respective mass meetings. I personally covered the Labour Party’s mass meeting. Valletta was packed, the vibe was good. Us journalists had a dedicated tent and were given complimentary sandwiches so I couldn’t complain. Meanwhile, our executive editor Kurt Sansone covered the Nationalist Party’s campaign launch. According to him, the PN gathered its troops in a less grandiose place - Ġnien l-Għarusa tal-Mosta. The party kicked off its election campaign with speeches from Bernard Grech and Roberta Metsola; music and food.
Candidate-watch: Sandra Gauci and Ralph Cassar joined other ADPD officials and met with some bus drivers, to pay respect on Workers’ Day. Arnold Cassola was attending the European Fair in Ta’ Qali. You already know where all the PN and PL candidates were.
What’s happening today?: The KSU MEP debate kicks off at 12:30pm. Prime Minister Robert Abela will be interviewed in Birżebbuġa at 6:30pm.
This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European Parliament's grant programme in the field of communication. The European Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the implementation of the action.
Nicole Meilak is deputy online editor and IĠM press awards (Most Promising Journalist) wi...
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