Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1520224
in turn suggests that his message is indeed getting across. Or does it? OK, let's a rewind a little to that 2009 election I alluded to earlier. As I wrote at the time: "Upon his elimination on the 17th count, Lowell's sur- plus votes were redistributed among a number of candidates, including both Labour and PN candidates... and also AD's Ar- nold Cassola, as diametrically opposed to Lowell's own radical right-wing politics as it is con- ceivable to be." This led me to conclude (and I stand by that conclusion, today) that: "The Lowell vote […] also camouflages a sizeable portion of disgruntled, disaffected, cyni- cal and jaded voters, united only by a vague sense of nationalism, and a genuine concern with the country's changing demograph- ics. […] This in turn can be taken as a vote of no confidence, not necessarily in the present gov- ernment, but rather in Malta's entire political class." Simply put: Lowell's popularity cannot be attributed solely to his far-right political views. On one level, you could argue that he has become something of a post- er-boy for Malta's growing 'an- ti-establishment' feeling, across a whole range of issues (includ- ing quite a few that have nothing whatsoever to do with his politi- cal agenda). He is, in a word, the 'go-to can- didate' you vote for, when (for whatever reason) you want to 'piss off' the mainstream parties of the day… Even if we stick only to his far-right agenda, however: the simple truth is that Norman Lowell doesn't need to do any campaigning, to succeed in this particular regard. He knows, as well as I do, that all that is already being taken care of by others: in ways that became par- ticularly apparent, in the course of this very campaign. Recently, for instance, Nation- alist Party's education (!) spokes- man Justin Schembri got himself reported in the news, for com- menting on Facebook that (his exact words, folks): "Malta is full of filth, shabbiness, and Indians". Now: under normal circum- stances, political opponents would be quick as lightning, to capitalise on a political faux-pas of such whopping proportions. (It reminded me of the time when Labour minister Charles Mangion commented that 'there is something wrong with the Na- tionalist Party's DNA'. The re- sulting earthquake was so over- whelming, that Mangion was eventually forced to apologise…) On this occasion, however: there was hardly any reaction at all. One News only briefly al- luded to Schembri's remark (and tellingly, the report claimed that it had 'angered NGOs and ac- tivists': with no mention of any criticism from the Labour Party itself); and as things stand today, the only calls for an apology/re- traction came from Equality jun- ior minister Rebecca Buttigieg (to her credit, the only Labour Party exponent to even mention the incident at all); the afore- mentioned 'NGOs and activists'; sections of the media (including this newspaper), and… … who else? Oh yes: Malta's entre Indian community, which – with characteristic humility – only expressed 'sadness' at the egregious insult. As for everyone else (including PN leader Bernard Grech, who still refuses to censure Schem- bri), it was a classic case of: 'DON'T MENTION THE [IM- MIGRATION ISSUE]!' And if all Malta's mainstream parties continue to insist, so doggedly, on ignoring an issue which – again, whether or not any of you 'agrees' or 'disagrees' – still evidently strikes such a resounding chord, among the Maltese electorate… … who else is there even left to vote for, other than the most rad- ically racist, anti-immigration politician on the ballot sheet? And why would that one politi- cian even bother campaigning, at all… when he already knows he can win anywhere up to 16,000 first-count votes, merely on the strength of the mainstream par- ties' silence (if not, downright COWARDICE) on this issue? No, indeed, folks. The way things are shaping up… it looks like Norman Lowell has already won the 2024 European Elec- tions (and this time, he even spared himself the cost of a handful of balloons). Incredible, but true… 11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2024 OPINION In terms of actual campaigning, however – and everything we take that word to mean: leaflets, flyers, corner-meetings, YouTube clips; even buying the occasional packet of balloons, if it comes it – there has, so far, been… nothing whatsoever by Norman Lowell Love him or hate him, Lowell has proven to be by far the most successful 'non-mainstream' politician Malta has ever seen… and all indications, at present, are that his popularity will only keep growing for the foreseeable future