Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544871
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 MAY 2026 FEATURE ELECTION 2026 A journey of hopelessness: From higher stipends to first-time home buyer schemes, from smart watches to culture passes, a lot of the disenchanted by political leaders and disconnected from politics THERE'S nothing new about old men in sharp suits with nothing new to say. And there's nothing new about young people not voting. Youthful idealism turns into adult cynicism, and we all have to play along sometime. Life beats the hope out of you, then you head to the polls. In the 1960s, Hunter S. Thompson called politicians "actors who are too ugly to make it to Hollywood." As for the outsiders who op- pose everything these actors stand for, Thompson dubbed the freaks, and that's who young people want. And they always have. The freaks, the borderline-lunatics with some- thing to say. Whatever it is, just something. Young people will always be revolted by politicians who want to be digestible more than they want to change the world. But to be static is no longer di- gestible, or maybe that's just my youthful idealism talking. The election of Donald Trump is a prime example of this, so is the rise of far-right parties all across Europe. Whatever the far-right are saying these days, it's something. Whether it's racist, fascist, genocidal, or sexist, it's a vision. And that's something. That kind of clarity will al- ways be more seductive than cautious ambiguity, even if ex- treme. I spoke to a friend of mine, 20, an MCAST student, who, as I was already aware, plans to vote for Imperium Europa in the next election. "They're the only ones who are actually shedding light on the immigration problem," they explained. "We're going to become the next England, the next France, the next Sweden." They pointed out that the La- bour Party seems to plan on ex- acerbating the situation, while the Nationalists refuse to ad- dress it. "This is not the Malta I want to live in, this is not the Malta I want my mother to live in." Now, a freak does not nec- essarily equate an authoritar- ian nutcase, but it does imply someone who has something real to say and who says it with balls. Malta hasn't had a freak on the ballot in a while. Instead, Malta has leaders who tread the boundaries of opinion, who give speeches to cameras in an empty stadium. Vote-thirsty politicians who would rather grant pardons than change laws. The Labour Party seems to be stretching thin trying to maintain their tight grip on older voters, who remain un- questioningly loyal from the days of Mintoff, while teasing young voters just enough with semi-legal cannabis and a 15% rise in stipends. Have you seen the posters strategically placed right outside Junior College? There's nothing like a cheeky bribe on your way home from school! And you'd think these young voters would likely go for La- bour, because at least Labour treads that boundary, whereas the Nationalists seem to most- ly denounce the modern world altogether (apart from smart- watches), whether or not they have a shiny new leader. But that doesn't seem to be the case. "If most young people didn't vote, I think that would send quite a message," a first-time voter with no intention to vote, told me. None of his friends have any interest in voting ei- ther, he confided. "I don't think my vote means anything," they said, "but my lack of one does." And it is in this that young My generation has founded its own silent rebellion, and our leaders are anyone who says something by saying absolutely nothing