Malta Elections: The Result

Happy

The weather was beautiful at the weekend, about 20 degrees, and lots of tourists took the opportunity to sprawl on a convenient beach.  I was enjoying the sunshine on my balcony, listening to an audiobook by David Sedaris.

From around 12.30 in the afternoon, Mr Sedaris’ witty recounting of childhood misadventures became punctuated by the sound of blaring horns from passing cars.  These were not expressions of rage or frustration, but of joy, at the news filtering out from the vote counting house that Labour had won the general election by a landslide and would be in power for the first time since 1996.


Your average Laburista supporter does not believe in accepting victory with a quiet smile and a modest sense of satisfaction.  Instead, they prefer to drive around the suburbs blasting their car horns to within an inch of their lives and waving red and white banners and flags out of their windows.  One such car was occupied by a couple, both gripping giant flags as they proceeded along down the road.  With his remaining hand, the husband still managed bursts of triumphant beeping, which is actually a pretty impressive feat of driving if you think about it.

I cannot myself envision an election result which would awake in me the desire to grab the car keys, my significant other, and a couple of enormous flags emblazoned with party logos and drive up and down the streets of my neighbourhood, but maybe that’s just me.  To be honest, I have never possessed a giant flag proclaiming my love for a political party, but they appear to be a staple item in most Maltese homes.

I imagine that the Nationalist hardcore have elected to draw the curtains and settle in with a dvd box set and a fortifying bottle of wine or two.

So despite years of boasting a relatively prosperous economy in a Europe which has been hard hit by recession, the people decided that it was time for a change.  There seems to be a feeling that the Nationalists were a bit to much of an Old Boys club, ‘who you know’ beating ‘how well do you do it’ as a means to landing lucrative contracts; money generously spent on things that don’t work tremendously well.

Alternattiva Demokratica got about 2% of the overall vote, but not enough to have a representative elected, so Malta remains a polarised 2 party government.  Labour say that they will slash the cost of electricity – one of the highest in the EU – so lets see if they can keep their promises.

I took a wander around St Julian’s to see how the news of the election results was going down with the general populace.

It is difficult to accurately convey the scenes to someone brought up in a Western democracy.  Probably the easiest thing is to picture the celebrations after the fall of a hated despot, after years of misery and oppression. Not that I am suggesting ex-PM Mr Gonzi is any kind of a despot – I am sure he is a decent and honorable man – and I am equally sure that the celebrations would have been just as exuberant had the Nationalists won instead of the Labours.  I found myself walking along the seafront approximately twice as fast as any of the cars were able to manage, due to the fact that drivers of assorted vehicles would often stop in the middle of the street so as to go and hug drivers of red and white garlanded cars going the opposite direction.  Cans of Cisk and Skol balanced on the top of car roofs as they inched along the road, passengers three quarters of the way out of the windows, cheering and waving at everyone as though they were riding a carnival float.  It doesn’t look like the party is going to stop any time soon, so I reckon I might be walking to work tomorrow.

people gather outside the local Labour HQ

The Results: