The ides of March

The Malta Independent

The ides of March

What tidings do the ides of March bring to Malta`s political parties following the local elections of last weekend`

The 7.4% gap in a direct contest between the two political formations is the largest I can remember for any election free from the mortal sin of the sixties. Some conclusions are easy to deduce and ought not to be subject to any argument as they represent factual reality.

The most obvious is that Labour have won this round of local elections hands down. The reasons for this could be many and varied but they surely include the following:

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Labour-led councils terminating their first 3 years in office could boast of a much superior performance to PN-led councils even where these were in their 2nd or 3rd term.

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Government, showing lethargy at national level, cannot but bestow it upon its own local government.

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Government deserved to be given the yellow card for its shoddy management at national level.

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Labour-led councils offer better guarantees of corporate governance and defence of citizens' rights free from extreme partisanship even at the local level so typical of the Nadur Gozo PN-led local council.

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`Labour guaranteed that local councils will not be used to add to the tax burden, a pledge avoided by the` PN in spite of exhortation to do so on the part of` Labour`s Leader.

Having come this far should the interpretation of the result be extended further into the future to smart guess the outcome of the forthcoming electoral tests` Labour must resist the temptation to do so.`

Much as the result is undoubtedly a strong boost to Labour activists to work with renewed vigour and courage for the final objective,` it does not really add much to the chances of winning a general election contest or the EU referendum,` should it precede the general election.

Reality is that voting motivations in a national contest could vary substantial from the motivations of a local contest. Reality is that the 28% that opted not to vote in the local elections will, in their large majority, think it differently in terms of a general electoral contest or a national referendum.

Whilst the local election result has broken the spell of screwed Xarabank surveys and consigned them to the trash can where they statistically and politically belong, they have limited value in terms of` leveraging Labour`s chances of winning the next general elections. This will much more depend on Labour`s performance between now and then and on the the PN`s reactions to this result. Rather than his ears the Prime Minister ought to` bring his feet back on the ground.