Election fallout (2)
The result of the last local elections gives both parties cause for concern; the Nationalist Party naturally more than Labour. While the PN has seen their number of votes shrink by a considerable amount, they find solace in the fact that the lost...
The result of the last local elections gives both parties cause for concern; the Nationalist Party naturally more than Labour.
While the PN has seen their number of votes shrink by a considerable amount, they find solace in the fact that the lost votes did not switch to the Labour camp. It seems that many Nationalist voters either through indifference to local councils or to show their disapproval at how they are treated by their party preferred to stay at home rather than vote Labour. In my opinion the Nationalist vote is still there and this result will not be repeated in the general election when the turnout at the polls will be much higher.
The battle for the general election is neither lost nor won
On the other hand while the Labour Party came out the winner in these local elections they cannot rest on their laurels, as their votes remain static despite their massive campaign headed by Joseph Muscat himself. They have to find out why voters disillusioned with the PN did not switch their vote to Labour.
In my opinion with such a record low turnout one cannot come up with any conclusion. What we know for sure is that the number of voters in the general election would be much higher, and the PN is faced with the task of convincing those reluctant voters in traditional Nationalist strongholds to go to the polling booth. To succeed in this task the PN has to change a lot of its strategy and overhaul its propaganda machine. They have to speak the same language as Labour.
So the battle for the next general election is neither lost nor won and depends heavily on how these absent voters in traditional Nationalist strongholds vote.
One message came out clearly from these elections.
All the material and social improvement achieved in the south (traditional Labour stronghold) by this government did not materialise into votes. So the PN has to be careful not to alienate its traditional supporters as they may remain at home in the next general election with no hope of converts from among the Labour supporters.