During the Cold War a car race competition was organised between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Americans won the competition. On their return home the Soviets were asked about their placing. "We came second," they said. "And what about the Americans?" was the follow up question. "They placed just before the last."
This anecdote, I guess, can come in handy while discussing election results. Election results are generally such that everyone can claim some sort of solace. This election, though, had a number of features, which made it different from others. Solace cannot be claimed by everyone and some who claim solace in public would do well not to let this quest delude them also in private.
And the winner is .....
This was an election whose winner was known from day one. The question was about the size of its victory. The Labour Party obtained "maggoranza kbira u komda" in the words of its Deputy Leader Toni Abela shortly after the ballot boxes were opened. The official result - 54.77% - nicely fits in with what Dr Abela said. Besides, the Partit Laburista has 35,000 votes more than the Partit Nazzjonalista; no mean feat indeed. This is a clear and big victory if ever there was one. Probably no other party in any other member states had a better result than the Partit Laburista.
But there is a "but" here as well. This has to be addressed by the Partit Laburista. In the March 2008 election they won 141,888 votes. In last Saturday's election they won a lesser number of votes - 135,917 votes. This shows that thousands of voters who are disillusioned by the PN preferred not to vote than to vote for the PL.
Some soul searching would be in place. As Dr Muscat said on more than one occasion: nothing should be taken for granted.
Far worse than better
The Partit Nazzjonalista found some solace in the result. The Prime Minister said that the result was worse than they had hoped for but better than they had expected. There is truth in what he said. They marginally increased their vote, compared to the EP elections of five years ago and it seems that they will increase the number of their MEPs. A 3 - 3 result - if it happens - would be a good sop for supporters.
It is true that though they were not massacred they suffered serious wounds. Their solace ends there. Compared to the election of March 2008 they netted 43,000 votes less! Nothing to be over enthusiastic about, I think.
They have to do a lot of soul searching, indeed! Easy excuses will not help them. It is true that there is an international recession and that this negatively affected local moods and climates. While all EU member states were affected, it does not transpire that all parties in government lost the election. Germany and Italy are two examples. Nor can they just pin it on difficult decisions that they believe that they had to take in the national interest. All these considerations are part of the story and do provide part of the explanation. However, it would be disastrous if the PN stops there. If they do so they would be saying: "It's everybody's fault but ours." That is the best recipe for disaster. The Government has to see what it - not some body else - did wrong. By doing wrong I do not mean ineffective or non-existing PR. I mean wrong decisions, or right decisions taken in a wrong way or decisions that had to be taken but were not taken - on the macro or micro level.
PN apologists will surely retort saying that they have been in Government for just over a year and as a result no one should expect that a five year programme be worked out during such a short period. True. Nevertheless, the problem is that a perception is growing that not everything that was promised could be executed. This perception, if not tackled, will cause the Nationalists more and more harm.
The best result?
Lowell can also find solace in the result. At 3,637 votes, Imperium Europa increased its first count vote of five years ago by 2,034. No party registered such a percentage increase. The gentleman, quite rightly, is happy about the result. Many others, myself included, find it very worrying. It would be very interesting to note who gets the second preferences of Imperium Europa voters.
Hardly any solace
Alternattiva Demokratika's 5,802 votes show an increase on their general election result of 2008 when they polled just over 3,000. I don't think that they will find any solace in that fact. In the last EP elections they had polled almost 23,000! I guess that they will ask themselves whether they should close shop or keep soldiering on. On the other hand, Azzjoni Nazzjonali with 1,600 votes should not have any problem answering this question.