Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544723
I was starting to get very bored, and I felt there was little or no adrenaline flowing. The elector- al campaign kicked off and I was wondering whether this was go- ing to be a competition with no competitor at all. On Tuesday, Labour dashed out of the stables with a glitzy bill- board and social media campaign. Activities were well planned and a plethora of proposals costing mil- lions dished out with a clear strate- gy in mind to tickle the interests of every segment of society. The PN responded, but there were fewer activities and fewer proposals and a feeling that they had not quite grasped the impor- tance of enticing the electorate with a dream and hope. Labour was asking if this was all about a strategy or simply a lack of preparedness. The PN kept us all thinking until 1 May, when the mass rally held in Lija, though no comparison with PN mass meet- ings from yesteryear, confirmed that the party had managed to rally new faces and get a campaign going. There were more young faces on the frontline and in Alex Borg's speech, there was energy and chutzpah. For those who could make com- parisons, it was far better and more exciting than the speeches of Busuttil, Delia or Grech. Still, Robert Abela is more of an adversary. He can boast of a formidable team and a vibrant economy. But he has one problem, the overcon- fidence that hangs over his cam- paign. It may serve to deter the non-voter to stay at home. The battle ground of this election campaign needs to be shifted I feel. It is not with the loyalists that the parties have beef but with the un- decided and non-voters. The campaign is now moving into its second week and at least I have a good excuse to let the adrenaline flow again. * I love it when someone like for- mer Housing Minister Roderick Galdes claims that he is retiring from the race he was not allowed to contest in because of a dirty campaign against him orchestrat- ed by 'extremist factions' within the Nationalist Party. From what I know, I do not be- lieve the PN had or has any cam- paign against Roderick Galdes. Alex Borg seems to be obsessed with a positive campaign and does not want to do a Simon Busuttil and drive home a campaign based on allegations of corruption or abuse of power. Galdes has a short memory. In the European parliamentary elec- tion of 2024, his shameful actions which led to the issuance of keys to unfinished social housing flats in Siġġiewi, caused the PL to lose the Siġġiewi council. It galvanised people against Labour. Labour won the European election with an 8,00-vote lead, a far cry from the 40,000 in the 2022 national election. Instead of being demoted after the disappointing election re- sult in 2024 he was kept on in his housing post. And then only re- cently another scandal surfaced this time about his flat in Gozo and his properties abroad, which continued to raise eyebrows about his ulterior interests and source of wealth. After all, it was not the PN but former Labour MEP Mar- lene MIzzi who accused Galdes of "hobnobbing with contractors". When finally, the Labour execu- tive decided to block his candida- ture for the next election, Galdes lost no sleep in blaming the out- come on insidious plots against him. The only thing against him was his own greed and blindness to the fact that as housing minister his asset value simply did not add up. * I would have thought that an approaching election would have made the government more sen- sitive to environmental issues. It seems the contrary is the case. A hunting and trapping season was opened once again in spring in defiance of the European Com- mission and the ECJ ruling. Con- struction permits for questionable development have been processed and given the green light; name- ly at Fort Chambray and around Ġġantija temples. It appears that the Labour gov- ernment, or shall we say Labour Party, is determined to ignore the environmental woes of the elec- torate. The PL strongly believes that the environment is not a de- termining factor for people when voting. They could be very wrong. Labour is more than willing to lend an ear to the hunting and trapping lobby and big interest groups such as developers than to educated middle class voters, who feel strongly about the environ- ment. The conclusion to all this can be seen from what is happening just right now. And perhaps Patrick Calleja, president of Din L-Art Ħelwa, describes the situation best in his writings when he talks about the worthlessness of our authori- ties and so-called guardians. His opinion in today's issue on the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage is perhaps the closest an- yone has got to pointing a finger at the decadence of our so-called guardians and their inability to stop the rape and pillage of our country. 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MAY 2026 OPINION Saviour Balzan Founder and co-owner of Media Today, publisher of MaltaToday, he is a TV host and pollster From overconfidence to pumping our adrenaline The battle ground needs to be shifted I feel, for it is not with the loyalists but with the undecided and the non-voters