To vote or not to vote

"Many associate ministries, government agencies, the civil service, the government with excessive spending, with a discipline deficit, with a lack of will to do things properly. It is very clear that the government is being lenient with those it ought to be strong with while it is strong with the weak...

The Nationalist Party in government is surrounded with people who do not deserve to be in certain positions. Instead of being penalised and removed from their positions - where, in most cases, they are neither qualified nor do they show any particular skills to occupy those posts - these people are promoted, which shows that the government is not on the side of the citizens but on the side of those responsible for the mismanagement of public funds and for unjust decisions..."

This quote is taken from the report commissioned by the Nationalist Party (PN) in 2004 to analyse why the party had lost the European Parliament (EP) election. The content of this report is relevant to the Maltese as it is about a party in government, which affects the lives of each and every one of us.

Other reasons given for the PN's poor showing in 2004 include the fact that the government had not honoured most of its electoral pledges. The government had declared finanzi fis-sod (sound finances) but soon after started saying that there was a need to increase taxes, for instance "VAT was increased and spread over 400 new products and services". The commission compiling the report concluded that, badly affected by the government's high-handedness, 50,000 people who had voted PN in the 2003 general election, won by the PN with a cosy majority, decided not to vote for that party in the EP election in 2004.

According to the report, people wanted the government to deal with things that affected them directly: "the cost of living, unemployment, pensions and the environment".

Those who felt the government was not addressing issues relevant to them either abstained from voting, voted for the Greens or for the Labour Party (PL). Even now, though the general election last year was won by a whisker, the PN continues to ignore the problems afflicting many citizens since "this is not a national election". This, even though it is common knowledge that the majority of the people - as it transpires from the PN report and from our encounters with the electorate - do not care what kind of elections these are and want the government to address national problems nonetheless.

Those who have been on home visits have touched the reality some people are experiencing. I have noticed an unusually large number of PN voters who welcomed us and spoke to us of their ills. They wanted to talk and we were there to listen. There were those who told us that they will not let the government fool them again. They would not be voting. Others are still undecided. There were also those who would take the plunge and maybe vote Labour for the first time in their lives. I also met a good number of first-time voters who are very keen on giving their support to Labour. We'll have to see to what extent this will materialise.

Still in this last week, for many, the question remains: To vote or not to vote? Who can blame let down Nationalist supporters for wanting to vote with their feet this time round? "I won't vote," an acquaintance of mine - a devoted Nationalist supporter - told me. She wants to send the message to the government she voted for only last year that the PN made short-shrift of her vote yet again. I would never have thought this particular die-hard Nationalist would be so adamant.

Surely, the party elves - she is a PN cardholder - will be busy phoning, knocking, pressing her and many, many others to vote. We saw it happening last year in the general election, with success.

Until late at night Lawrence and Kate Gonzi were knocking on doors to bring out the hitherto intractable voters. The PN made it by the skin of its teeth. Needles to say, these voters are now regretting having been persuaded to vote. Would they let that happen to them again, in such a short span of time? Unlikely. Fool me twice, shame on me.

In Britain, Conservative leader David Cameron urged voters to regard the local and EP elections as a vote on the government's performance. From what I have gathered during my countless home visits, many people are looking at these elections in the same way here. They talk about the steepest rise in the cost of living when compared to other EU countries, especially in the area of certain medicines, which can be bought from Sicily for half the price they cost here; the government's loss of control of public funds; the Cabinet's reluctance to introduce a serious economic stimulus package; the utility services rates; until recently, the lack of insistence for mandatory burden sharing on illegal immigration; the poor state of the environment in general; the government's attitude towards minority groups...

This coming Saturday, all well-meaning citizens have the opportunity to send a message to the government about what they think of the way our country is being run.

The author is a sociologist and a Labour member of Parliament.