Malta stands out in wake-up call elections

Malta has once again bucked the trend to retain its reputation for huge election turnouts, this time in European elections marked by widespread voter apathy and protest voting.

Average turnout for the historic vote over the weekend - the first since the EU took in 10 new members last May - hit a record low of 44.2 per cent. Only 150 million of the 350 million people who were eligible voted in the four-day elections that ended on Sunday.

The highest turnouts among the 10 new states were recorded in Malta and Cyprus with 82 per cent and 71 per cent respectively, while 91 per cent and 90 per cent respectively of the electorates in Belgium and Luxembourg voted. However, voting in Cyprus and Belgium is compulsory, while national elections were held simultaneously in Luxembourg.

A mere 20 per cent of Poles and 17 per cent of Slovakians bothered to go to the polling stations at the weekend. The new states in fact showed little appetite for the poll, with a mere 28.7 per cent average going to cast their vote.

During last year's EU referendum, Malta had broken European records when 91 per cent of the electorate voted.

Ron Avers, the European Parliament representative in Malta, hailed the high turnout here, saying it showed a strong commitment to the democratic process and the issues the parties stood for.

Mr Avers said Malta's first European election was a very good start for the five Maltese MEPs because it gave them a very strong voter mandate.

Still, by local standards, turnout was some 16 per cent below that registered in national elections.

Mr Avers said it was very evident that local issues dictated the European Parliament elections and that protest votes against all governments were widespread.

Analysts agreed that citizens of the 25 EU nations punished their governments for everything, from high unemployment to reforms, to their involvement in the war in Iraq.

Across the continent, voters voiced discontent by voting for opposition or even fringe parties.

The outcome highlighted anxieties about the expanding Union, with anti-EU parties gaining ground in the UK and Sweden.

The UK's Independence Party, which wants to take Britain out of the EU, won 17 seats, nearly equalling the vote total for the mainstream British parties.

Spain is the member state where participation went down by the largest percentage (17 per cent) in comparison with 1999.

Addressing a news conference, EP president Pat Cox described the results as a wake-up call, and warned EU leaders they had to do more to tell their electorates that the EU was important and relevant.

The results of the European elections indicated that the largest political group in the European Parliament, the EPP-ED Group, would retain its leading position, with close to 270 seats in the new 732-seat parliament.

The EPP-ED Group will also be the only political grouping with MEPs from all 25 member states.

The European Socialists finished second with 199 seats, while the third-largest grouping in the EU assembly will be the Liberal Democrats with 66.

Commenting on the results, the leader of the EPP-ED Group, Hans-Gert Poettering, expressed satisfaction with the result, saying his group would push forward its agenda, and in the short term ensure that the appointment of the commission president reflected the result of the elections.

Member Percentage state turnout Belgium 91 Luxembourg 90 Malta 82 Italy 73 Cyprus 71 Greece 63 Ireland 60 Lithuania 48 Denmark 48 Spain 46 France 43 Germany 43 Austria 42 Latvia 41 Finland 41 Portugal 39 Netherlands 39 UK 38 Hungary 38 Sweden 37 Slovenia 28 Czech Republic 28 Estonia 27 Poland 20 Slovakia 17