Political and parliamentary experience are a strength

If there ever were a seasoned campaigner among the Nationalist candidates for the European Parliament election on Saturday, it is Michael Falzon.

This is his seventh election campaign, having contested elections between 1976 and 1998, and he is the only one with both parliamentary and ministerial experience.

"Different times and circumstances led to different issues being to the fore of the political debate," he said in reply to a question on how this election differs from the previous six. "The issue this time is certainly different - who can best represent the Maltese people in the European Parliament?"

The biggest difference, he observed, is that this time he is campaigning on a national basis since Malta and Gozo are a single electoral district. "I have jokingly remarked that, as a result, no one can come and tell me that he/she would have voted for me, if only I had contested the district that includes their locality!"

The reality of this single geographical district is that a candidate cannot personally meet a good percentage of the voters as was possible with a district in national elections of, say, 20,000 voters.

"So this is more of a media campaign - which makes me realise why the media are so important in elections abroad, where an area with much more voters than there are in all of Malta and Gozo could just be one constituency," Mr Falzon said.

Throughout the past weeks of his campaign, he has discovered that electors were highly interested in the European Parliament and he has gone to great lengths to explain what the European Parliament is all about and what the Maltese MEP's role would be.

"Many think that elected MEPs would have to go to live permanently in Brussels, just as Commissioner Joe Borg had to do," he said. "Of course, in the case of MEPs, the situation is quite different. They are expected to keep in touch with their voters and the European Union even gives them an allowance to run their local constituency office - which means a lot of travelling."

He sees the current campaign as an extension of the referendum and 2003 election campaigns. "Apart from the usual percentage of malcontents who want their wishes granted, the main local issue is the two main parties' stand on Europe. We believe in Europe and are confident that we can get the best results from EU membership because we believe in the system... while the Malta Labour Party finds itself in a contradictory and confusing situation of their own making."

On a European level, he said the EPP-ED group (that includes the Nationalist Party) is stressing several issues. "I feel that the most significant one concerns the importance of holding on to the principle of subsidiarity that should lead to a Europe of and for the citizen rather than the other way about. However, in every country local issues also play an important part in EP elections."

With the Nationalist Party fielding what he termed "a formidable team of candidates", Mr Falzon believes that his trump card in this campaign has been his political and parliamentary experience, although his media knowhow is also considerable.

A graduate in architecture from the Royal University of Malta, Mr Falzon, 58, was for six years up to 1980 editor of The Democrat, the first English language newspaper launched by the Nationalist Party, and for four years up to last year he was the manager, Informational Services, of the PN's media organisation, Media.link Communications.

His dedication to the PN cause for the past 30 years is, he believes, very much appreciated by the party grassroots on whom he has concentrated most of his attention and from whom he is expecting to attract the bulk of his support.

"I push for the vote of the older PN voters, especially those with whom I worked during the difficult years of the past. I must say I have had very positive feedback, which has encouraged me a lot during my campaign.

His ministerial experience during 20 years in Parliament includes Development of Infra-structure, Environment, Education and Human Resources. Since 1998 he has served as chairman of the Water Services Corporation.

All the candidates, he added, have their good points and different voters can identify with different candidates. "As in all elections with the system we use in Malta, the competition between the candidates of the same party leads to some tension - probably much more than between candidates of opposing parties," he said.

"In this case, since it is not a 'winner takes all' situation, it is even more tense - although we, the eight PN candidates, have certainly never been disloyal to each other and we overcome the tense situation by cracking jokes and even encouraging each other.

"One of the stock questions being made to the European Parliament candidates in the PN electoral campaign is: 'Why are you contesting as a PN candidate?' I always tell them to miss that one. In my case, and in my case alone, it's the most stupid of questions..."

Once elected, Mr Falzon believes the PN candidates will be highly effective within the wider political grouping in the European Parliament in driving home changes of importance to Malta. "The PN MEPs will be members of the EPP-ED group that is by far the largest political grouping in the European Parliament. So we will have the strength of the strongest political group.

"The group members meet on their own, and devise the political position and strategy of the group with regard to whatever is on the agenda of the European Parliament.

"Through our colleagues in our group, we will be able to push the line that suits Malta best. This is not far- fetched. Many times the decision-making processes in the EU are based on alliances - albeit mostly temporary - and there is a lot of horse-trading going on all the time. I am sure no one can play that game better than the Maltese!"

He is expecting a voter turnout of over 80 per cent on Saturday. Although this is lower than the 96 per cent turnout in national elections, he is expecting it to be higher than the turnout in the other 24 EU member countries.

Finally, I asked him for his pledge to the Maltese if elected to the European Parliament: "That I will always be true to them and strive to be up to their expectations; that I will always keep in mind what they think and would want in whatever decision I take as their representative."