Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1122313
11 maltatoday | MONDAY • 27 MAY 2019 EUROPE 2019 sis, which sees the party lacking a clear sense of purpose which unites its different categories of voters. The overriding concern of keeping the various factions and sensibili- ties in the party united may have prevented Delia from reach- ing out to the political c e n t r e - g r o u n d , which was vacated to Muscat. Yet despite losing, Delia may sol- dier on. He may try to argue that the party is still shaken by the 2013 and 2017 defeats and that surveys earlier on in the campaign even suggested a bigger vote margin. If he decides to stay on, Delia can now blame the PN's defeat on those who did not rally be- hind him. But he still needs to rally the party around him, and a bad result does not help in restoring confidence which is now at the lowest ebb ever. But such arguments are some- what implausible, simply because under his lead- ership his party's de- cline has not stopped but has continued. The irony was that while Muscat was clearly hinting that he will bow out after win- ning another super- majority, Delia was insisting on staying on, even if humili- ated in this con- test. And while Labour voters may have been keen on con- vincing Mus- cat to stay on by voting for him, some PN voters could not resist the temptation to show Delia the way out by abstaining. The problem is that by doing so they have to contend with a stronger Mus- cat and a lame duck at the helm of their party, possibly till the next gen- eral election. Fourth national victory for Muscat For Muscat this result suggests that not only has he managed to hold to- gether the coalition of voters which elected him in 2013 and which re- tained him in power in 2017 but that he still managed to extend his major- ity. While partly this can be attributed to abstention of PN voters, surveys also suggested a small but significant shift from the PN which continued swelling Labour's ranks. One of Muscat's most remarkable feats was his ability to retain both tra- ditional labour voters and his own pale red constituency composed of floating voters. And he managed to do this de- spite the ideological transformation of his party which now occupies ter- ritory previously occupied by the PN. Such a massive success for the La- bour leader in the wake of a campaign in which he was presented as the par- ty's best asset inevitably raises ques- tions on whether the party is ready for a change in leadership. While disarray in the opposition gives Labour breath- ing space to elect a new leader, Labour voters will be asking how wise it is to change such a successful leader. On a personal level, Muscat would be departing after winning two MEP elections and two general elections held between 2008 and 2019, with La- bour's majority increasing from 53% in 2008 to 57% in 2019. This means that he would be departing on a very high personal note. The question worth asking is whether the Opposition's failure to present a credible alterna- tive is masking Labour's contradic- tions and problems. The greatest risk posed by such a scenario is that with such a result, Labour may be tempted to ride roughshod on those expressing concern on issues like governance and the environment. Yet Labour's ability to retain votes suggests that the party has a high level of appreciation for its accomplish- ments, which cannot be ignored. The irony was that while Muscat was clearly hinting that he will bow out after winning another super-majority, Delia was insisting on staying on, even if humiliated in this contest