Between tomorrow and Saturday, European Parliament elections will be held in all EU member states. A total of 400 million voters from 28 countries will be eligible to elect their representatives to this important European institution. These are significant elections; it is the first pan-EU poll since the eurozone debt crisis which brought the single currency as well as the economies of a number of EU member states to the brink of collapse.

Unfortunately, populist, Eurosceptic and far-right parties are expected to gain ground in some countries, which could serve as a wake-up call to the mainstream political parties to listen more attentively to people’s concerns and not to make Brussels a scapegoat for the bloc’s ills.

The new European Parliament will have to deal with a number of important issues such as tighter financial sector regulations, how to make the eurozone more robust and sustainable, the future of EU political and economic integration, climate change, Europe’s competitiveness in a globalised economy, consumer protection and the trade and investment agreement with the US.

It is important that when Malta’s voters go to the polls on Saturday to elect its six MEPs, the most suitable candidates – and those who truly believe in the EU – are chosen to represent us.

There is no doubt that the electorate in these elections usually votes on national issues, and Malta is no exception. Voters will want to pass judgement on their governments, ruling parties with a good domestic track record will want to be rewarded at the polls while Opposition parties can often score points against the parties in government in response to their poor performance.

Voters in Malta will essentially be giving their verdict on Joseph Muscat’s government 15 months after it was first elected. The poll is also important for the Nationalist Party, which suffered a massive 37,000 vote defeat in last year’s election, and Simon Busuttil, who is leading his first campaign as PN leader. After just over a year in office it is expected that Labour will lose ground and will be unable to retain its huge majority.

The disastrous way the citizenship scheme was introduced, the many partisan appointments in the public sector, the many jobs awarded to backbench Labour MPs, the purges in the army and police force, the worrying trend of increased joblessness, the disrespect for the environment, Dr Muscat’s initial ‘us versus them’ attitude to the EU as well as the Cyrus Engerer case are all expected to diminish the government’s popularity. The question is, however, by how much?

The election is also a challenge for the Nationalist Party and Dr Busuttil. That the PN will gain a third seat is virtually a foregone conclusion. However, the PN will have to be able to reduce the government’s majority quite substantially in order to be satisfied with the result.

The size of the gap between the parties after the election will also serve as an indication of Dr Busuttil’s appeal to voters, particularly the so-called ‘switchers’ who abandoned the party in droves at the last election.

Voter turnout at the past two European elections in Malta has been high: 82.4 per cent in 2004 and 78.8 per cent in 2009. This is encouraging and certainly better than the EU average which has dwindled from 63 per cent in 1979 to just 43 per cent in 2009, a sign that many EU voters feel detached from this important institution.

We hope the turnout in Malta at the European elections will remain high and that the political parties will take advantage of this to include European issues in their respective campaigns.