AFP, VALLETTA
Voters in Malta yesterday cast their ballots in a general election likely to secure a record-setting fourth term for the Labour government, despite concerns about over-construction and corruption in the Mediterranean nation.Opinion polls point to a win for Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela, 48, who is campaigning on Labour’s economic record and a promise to shield import-heavy Malta from geopolitical crises.His main rival is Nationalist Party (PN) candidate Alex Borg, a 30-year-old lawyer and former “Mr World Malta” beauty pageant winner, who would be the country’s youngest leader.
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela waves to supporters during an election campaign rally in Valletta on Thursday.
At festive final rallies on Thursday, Abela told supporters he would be “a captain as strong as steel,” while Borg slammed a country “in chaos,” from a beleaguered health service to blackouts in sweltering summers.Malta has a thriving economy based largely on tourism, online gaming and financial services, and many voters said its economic performance trumps all other concerns.
“We were poor and under Labour we are rich!” 72-year-old Conny Pace said.As a steady stream of people arrived at a polling station in Valletta, 33-year-old Charmaine Kitcher said she was voting “for stability, not change” and expected a high turnout.“Maltese are fanatics. Politics is second only to religion,” she said.Malta has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU.The population has grown nearly 30 percent over a decade, driven largely by foreigners. That, in turn, has fueled a construction boom, filling the skyline with cranes, creating traffic bottlenecks and putting a strain on key services.Heritage groups have denounced environmental degradation and risks to UNESCO world heritage sites.However, in a country that imports nearly all its energy, bills are the hottest campaign topic.The government earmarked an extra 250 million euros (US$291 million) for subsidies as a cushion against fallout from the Middle East conflict, on top of the 150 million euros already budgeted for the year.The country, which has few natural resources, is on the front line of climate change, and at risk of desertification and drought, but neither main party has made the issue its priority.The latest poll by the Malta Independent put Labour comfortably ahead at 49 percent of the vote, to the PN’s 38 percent.According to a Council of Europe report last year, Malta remains significantly behind in the fight against corruption, but many locals were unwilling to comment publicly on the issue.Many locals would think of their wallets and vote Labour despite the scandals, because “there’s corruption, but I get another 50 euros a week in my pension,” political analyst Andrew Azzopardi said.Preliminary results are expected on today.
