Last year’s defeat can be squarely blamed on Alfred Sant, but yesterday’s victory was a personal triumph for Joseph Muscat’s Labour-lite brand, JAMES DEBONO says
In the space of a year Joseph Muscat has pushed all the right political buttons and put Labour ahead by 15 percentage points with its definitive electoral swing that signalled a change in the popular mood.
Only a year ago during Labour’s internal leadership contest Nationalists pundits had written off Muscat as a continuation of Sant’s legacy, arguing that by dumping George Abela, Labour would remain unelectable.
But Muscat has not only managed to inspire the Labour core vote. He has managed to make inroads among floating voters and former Nationalist voters. Unlike Sant, Muscat does not inspire fear or uncertainty in an electorate suffering from fatigue after two decades of Nationalist rule.
And unlike Sant, despite his very young age he has proved himself as an astute leader who does not provide his adversaries with embarrassing soundbites such as Sant’s promise to “reopen the EU package”.
Nationalist pundits tried to blame their colossal defeat on the higher rates of abstention in Nationalist districts. But this is only part of the truth. MaltaToday surveys had predicted that 4.8% of Nationalist voters in 2008 would vote Labour this time around.
And more significantly a survey held in January showed Labour leader Joseph Muscat enjoying a higher trust rating than Lawrence Gonzi. Significantly 10% of respondents who claimed to have voted PN in the last election now trusted Muscat more than Gonzi.
Ironically despite Labour’s triumph, Malta has inched towards the right in these elections. On immigration Labour was in synch with the popular mood, but it is has drifted to the positions of the hard right. This was partly compensated by a more progressive stand on gay rights and divorce.
The PN’s moral conservatism was definitely a turn-off for many middle of the road liberal voters. You could say that Labour is one of the few members of the Party of European Socialists to win – and largely because of voters’ fatigue with the PN.
Ultimately Muscat’s vision on economic and environmental matters remains obscure.
For the moment Muscat has built a coalition of the disgruntled kept together by his charisma and tact. In four years’ time, voters will ask questions on how Muscat will govern the country. Now he has turn Labour into a government-in-waiting.
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