Election Playbook: The mechanisms go ‘On again, off again’

PN up, PL down: Support for the Nationalist Party increased by 0.5 percentage points on Tuesday, while Labour slipped by half a percentage point. The standings are now 52.9% in Labour’s favour, and 44.9% for the PN. The share of valid votes stands at around 86%, a slight improvement of 0.4 points. The vote gap is now 24,459 – on the day before it stood at 26,379.  

Battle of the Julies: Julia Farrugia Portelli delivered quite the put-down against PN candidate Julie Zahra while on TVM’s XTRA. Taking a dig at Zahra’s Eurovision past, Farrugia Portelli told the candidate that my Nationalists are voting for the Labour Party, following this up with “Aħna m’aħniex fuq palk inkantaw”. The arts and entertainment lobby sang up a storm (yes... pun intended...) and called Farrugia Portelli out on her comments. “Ironically, it’s easier to have a politician on stage during the pandemic than a sing,” they said, 

Malta Chamber meets MaltaToday: Marisa Xuereb, President of Malta Chamber, visited our newsroom on Tuesday to talk about the chamber’s 100 recommendations for the coming legislature. In their position document, the chamber highlights issues of human resources, good governance, and digital infrastructure. Interestingly, their last proposal concerns manure (a subtle dig at the two parties perhaps?) 

Running out of gas: Gas importers are finding it difficult to source liquefied petroleum gas due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to Prime Minister Robert Abela. Sold in green and yellow tanks, LPG is a common feature in households using gas heaters or ovens. He described this as a new reality, but said that government is looking into solutions to alleviate the blues.  

Echoes of 2017: Our chief political analyst James Debono made a few key observations in his piece from last Sunday’s newspaper. Robert Abela wants a strong mandate for the next five years, and this makes him more vulnerable, and receptive, to the concerns of local communities – something which was taken for granted in the 2017 election. Meanwhile, the PN came out with a real manifesto this time, one which responds to popular concerns. They’re also no longer focusing all their energy on Castille corruption. Nevertheless, the leaders this time are far blander, but less divisive, than Simon Busuttil and Joseph Muscat. 

In-credible: The Broadcasting Authority held its first political debate between Labour candidates Miriam Dalli and Rebecca Buttigieg, and Nationalist candidates Claudette Buttigieg and Joseph Grech. A common theme throughout the debate was credibility. Labour says it’s a credible party because it knows how to get things done. The PN argued that Labour has taken away just as many opportunities as it tried to create, a sore point being the greylisting.  

Any new proposals?: The Labour Party is pledging to distribute the contraceptive pill and IUD for free if re-elected to government. The Nationalist Party laid out some pledges to respect hunting as a hobby.

What’s happening today: The Labour Party is holding an activity in Siġġiewi at 6:30pm. The Nationalist Party will be in Isla for an activity at 6pm. Cassola will be holding a press conference at noon.