Labour Party resorts to political gimmicks

A political party usually tries to be more convincing the closer an election gets. However, Labour under Joseph Muscat appears to be doing exactly the opposite. It is, in fact, getting less and less convincing as Dr Muscat chooses to play to the gallery and apparently forgets all his talk about wanting to turn his party into a movement that appeals to all shades of public opinion up and down the country.

In high mood after the devastating show by the Nationalist Party in the last round of local council elections, Labour appear intoxicated by the sweet smell of power. They have evidently concluded – not unreasonably – that Castille is theirs for the taking and that only gaffes of the first order could prevent them from climbing up the magnificent building’s steps.

Well, the list of errors and blunders made by the Nationalists in this legislature is so long that it takes a brave man to predict an outright victory for the PN at the next polls. And, yet, the alternative is so far showing itself to be so mediocre, so poor that, difficult as it may seem, the PN may well squeeze into power again by default, as it did in the last election when it only got elected by a whisker.

A fresh man at the party’s helm had given Labour extra vigour and, for a time, many were prepared to look at Dr Muscat in the same way they looked at Alfred Sant when he succeeded Eddie Fenech Adami as Prime Minister in 1996. Dr Muscat made it his mission to attract back into the fold Labour people who had deserted the party over the years.

The gradual rehabilitation of their erstwhile leader, Dom Mintoff, struck a sympathetic and conciliatory chord with those whose roots in the party had grown at the time of their former leader.

But Dr Muscat’s pull now appears to be wearing off and his talk is becoming less and less convincing.

The Nationalists are pinning the blame for their drop in popularity and trust to lack of communication with the people. Labour are not in a happier position either, at least insofar as communicating with the uncommitted voters is concerned.

Labour have no problem “communicating” with diehard party supporters but they are definitely not reaching the uncommitted voters, that fast growing segment of the electorate that is voting with its mind rather than with its heart.

Take Labour’s latest campaign, that of putting the government in a bad light over the €40 million Budget cut. It may have impressed its party supporters but does the PL believe for one moment that it helped to bring uncommitted voters to its side? The contrary is the case, for few, if any, of them could have failed to see the glaring half-truths in their blitz against the government.

Uncommitted voters are not likely to take whatever the parties say as gospel truth and would have well seen the difference between reducing a budgetary allocation and reducing the rise of an allocation. But Labour believed it could fool the people all the time. More political gimmicks of this nature could very well eclipse the errors made by the Nationalist Administration in this legislature.

Whoever planned Labour’s campaign, therefore, made a tactical error of the first order. Labour will not draw uncommitted voters to its side if they keep acting in a manner that suggests crass disrespect to the people’s intelligence.