Now’s the chance to influence who all six MEPs will be

Malta’s voting system based on the single transferable vote (STV) has the advantage of allowing voters the chance to not only choose their preferred candidates from the party they support but also influence who gets elected overall. 

This is possible because voters can transfer their voting preferences across parties and independent candidates at will. 

The two major parties will be harping on the importance of voting for all candidates on their list. The inference is that voters should only vote for their candidates and no one else. 

This strategy is intended to maximise the vote pool and ensure they can elect the most seats possible. 

Many voters will heed this message on Saturday but it is important to know that voters can dismiss it outright. There is nothing wrong if voters decide to give short shrift to this pressure and use their vote to influence who gets elected across the full political spectrum. 

Voters will not be spoiling their ballot if they cross-vote between candidates from different political backgrounds. On the contrary, doing so is making good use of the STV system. 

Indeed, this leader urges voters to ignore the political rhetoric of the two major parties and the pressure they will make over the next 48 hours warning voters not to ‘waste’ their vote. 

For starters, not all candidates on the lists of the two major parties are valid options – being a candidate for either the Labour Party or the Nationalist Party does not automatically make you a good or competent politician. So, simply voting for all candidates blindly makes little sense. 

But a second consideration is that Saturday’s election is to choose Malta’s six members of the European Parliament; it does not determine who will govern the country. It is about electing six competent people to the EP. 

Nonetheless, the election is also an occasion for voters to make their voice heard. It is the first occasion since the general election of 2022 for voters to express their sentiment on the behaviour of the political class in general and of the government in particular. 

Surveys have been suggesting that many will have already decided that the best message possible is given by not voting. It is not a position we subscribe to. After all, six MEPs will still be chosen irrespective of who goes out to vote. 

To the people frustrated with the two major political parties, we suggest they explore other alternatives to the PL and PN. 

There are other parties and a host of independent candidates to choose from. One of these is veteran politician Arnold Cassola who has run a strong independent campaign based on hope and commitment towards a better Malta. Cassola’s honesty has provided a breath of fresh air in an otherwise musty campaign. 

To those who will stick to the main parties, or include candidates from the PL and PN in their mixed choice, we urge discernment. Some of the candidates are better suited than others because they are more competent, genuine and honest. 

We borrow Cassola’s slogan ‘Now’s the Chance’, and add to it a rejoinder: ‘Now’s the chance to influence who all six MEPs will be.’ 

Now’s the chance for voters to break the PL-PN duopoly, which is the source of a lot of acrimony and malaise in Maltese society. A plurality of voices helps to foster debate and instigate a clash of ideas. 

Voting is a right we often take for granted and yet it is a privilege to be able to choose the people tasked with making important decisions on our behalf. That this exercise in Maltese democracy forms part of a wider exercise taking place across the EU is something to be cherished as a common EU value.