Is it not hugely significant that, according to a poll for The Sunday Times, new voters are more inclined to vote for the Nationalist Party than for the Labour Party?

Equally significant is that the PN also has a relative majority of voters in the 18-24 age bracket. This may be of little consolation to the Nationalists when Labour has a 10-point lead but, even so, the findings do merit a deeper analysis.

First, considering that the poll was carried out at a very turbulent time for the PN, the findings do come as a surprise. Young people may not be as interested in politics as those of yesteryear , not just because of the more interesting distractions of life today but probably even more so because of the antics and the glaring self-interest displayed by politicians in both camps over time.

This has greatly helped to instil growing distrust in politicians.

However, it is hardly likely that young people about to vote for the first time are unaware of what is happening politically. For one thing, it is practically impossible for one to isolate oneself completely from the grip of the stifling political environment, one reason perhaps why the recent European football championship provided such a huge relief for so many thousands.

So, what makes new voters and the majority of those in the 18-24 age bracket turn to the PN?

With such a young man as Joseph Muscat at the helm of the party (Or is it officially called a movement now?), one would have thought that young people are turning to Labour in droves. The truth apparently is that those in this age bracket do not see the PL as a party that meets their aspirations, which is not strange considering that it is going all out to try to please everybody at the same time.

Or maybe young people think they have better job prospects under the Nationalists than under Labour, or they may not trust the PL in its promise to keep the stipends.

Like the PN, Labour has already committed itself not to touch the students’ stipends if it is elected but, on the basis of past experience, new voters may not be taking the PL leader’s word for it. Before the election in 1996, the PL had also promised not to touch stipends, only to turn its payment into a loan-based system after its election.

Actually, both parties are in the wrong on this. The general advice by the experts is that the stipend should only be given to those who really need it. Savings made would then be spent on strengthening University courses or to improve facilities. But the parties would not take any note of this for fear of losing votes.

What else would make young people turn to the PN rather than to Labour?

One expert said, when asked to react to the findings, that young people in this country did not have a tradition of radicalism as was the case in Italy and Spain.

They tended to support one party over another based on what they stood to benefit as individuals and their concerns were determined by lifestyle that sees them continuing with their studies and living longer with their parents. This may very well be so but would not the soundness or otherwise of a party’s overall policies count as well?