Election Playbook: Week 1 round-up

Golden passport to Europe: Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme came under public scrutiny again as the West plans sanctions against Russia for attacking Ukraine. Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech said unvetted Russians obtaining Maltese citizenship could pose a security threat to the country and to Europe. This sentiment was echoed by six NGOs and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. Meanwhile, Robert Abela insisted that the passport scheme is robust and enjoys strong due diligence policies and Chris Fearne defended the scheme for giving government a large revenue source. 

Traffic fines in the metaverse: Two proposals stuck out for the Nationalist Party over the first week of campaigning. Bernard Grech pledged to invest €1 billion across 10 new sectors, including in the elusive metaverse sector. This means €100 million per sector over the five-year legislature, or €20 million a year. While many of the sectors already exist, such as due diligence and the sports industry, Grech insisted that the PN will give these a more serious investment than that given by the Labour Party. It also proposed waiving traffic contraventions after a six-month period if no further infractions are committed. People were wary that the proposal would lead to anarchy in the streets, but Grech said he wants to give people a second chance. 

Labour emphasises greening: Labour kicked off its campaign with a €700 pledge to invest in greening projects across village cores. One of its tools in the arsenal is to put car parks underground and transform existing car parks into green public spaces. It is also centering its campaign on the idea of giving public land back to the people. A week before the election Abela revealed that the American University of Malta will be transferring its ownership of land at Żonqor Point back to government. It seems that this was a scene-setting exercise – a week later, he said that plans for a Marsaskala yacht marina were scrapped. After the construction boom that took hold after 2013, not many trust Labour to turn Malta into this green haven of public spaces. On the other hand, Labour has proven itself to be a party that can fulfil its electoral promises. 

Cassola wins political points in TM case: Independent candidate Arnold Cassola published an open letter to the Prime Minister on Thursday, outlining what appeared to be a systematic cover-up of the behaviour of a certain Transport Malta official. Cassola was quickly vindicated as police arraigned TM official Clint Axisa on charges of sexual harassment after several female coworkers spoke out. 

ADPD launch campaign, but no manifesto: ‘Green Sweeps Clean’ is the slogan for Malta’s Green Party campaign. ADPD has 10 candidates running on the ADPD ticket, all of which are contesting two districts. ADPD Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said the party will consider challenging the election result if ADPD wins a reasonable percentage of votes but fails to elect a candidate to parliament. He insisted that the constitutional proportionality mechanism should kick in in such a case. 

Nuts and volts: Volt will only field one candidate in the election, running under the slogan ‘Vote Better, Vote Volt’. The party is throwing its resources on candidate Thomas ‘Kass’ Mallia, who will contest on the 10th and 11th districts. It has since proposed a direct air link with North America to promote quality tourism while attracting Maltese diaspora on the continent.  

What’s happening on Sunday? The Labour Party will be holding a rally in Naxxar at the Trade Fair Grounds (4pm). Bernard Grech will be ‘under the tent’ for a Nationalist Party event in Żurrieq (10:30am, rally 3pm).