Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/483475
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MARCH 2015 9 News the swing councils so help the Greens in their bid to re- tain their seat in Attard and to gain some ground in localities such as St Paul's Bay and St Julian's. But Labour could benefit from the Prime Minister's repeated declara- tions in favour of Spring hunting in pro-hunting localities, especially in Gozo. This could help the party re- tain or even strengthen its majority in Qala and Safi. This may explain why the Prime Minister chose a news conference in Gozo to reiter- ate his stand in favour of hunting in spring. Muscat's gamble Coinciding with the second an- niversary of the election of the new Labour government, the election is being projected by the party in gov- ernment as a referendum on Mus- cat's performance in government. While previous Nationalist gov- ernments used to play down the na- tional importance of these elections, Labour leader Joseph Muscat has been upfront in turning these elec- tions into a confirmation test for his own government. Muscat has actively campaigned in these elections projecting a feel good factor based on the government's successful performance in the econ- omy. The slogan "Malta ottimista" perfectly reflects this strategy. This could well be a gamble for a party whose shortcomings in gov- ernance have been flagged by the Auditor General in two separate re- ports on the bail out of the Café Pre- mier and ministerial intervention in hedging oil from SOCAR. One reason for Muscat's daring gamble is that internal party polls still show Muscat enjoying a higher trust rating than Busuttil. But Mus- cat's claim that he starts the elec- tions as an underdog is hardly cred- ible. Muscat starts these elections with a strong lead in the polls and fully knowing that this round in- cludes more Labour than Nationalist strongholds. The PN has been more cautious and has recognised the sheer im- possibility of winning a majority in these elections while hoping to re- cover some of the localities lost in 2012. But if the PN does not man- age to reduce the gap between the two parties in mid term elections which are usually difficult for a party in government, Busuttil's leadership will be questioned once again. This would represent Busuttil's second consecutive defeat as PN leader after last year's debacle in the MEP elections. For while the party starts as an underdog in these elec- tions, it is expected to register an improvement either in its percent- age of votes or in the number of lo- calities won, especially in view of the government's shortcomings in the past months. If it does that, this round of elec- tions could represent the beginning of the long road to recovery. Any gains by the PN would also send a strong message to the government not to take the electorate for grant- ed, especially on issues related to governance and transparency. But if Muscat manages to retain the councils won in 2012 and re- tain the same advantage percentage (55%) he would confirm his reputa- tion for apparent invincibility. Such a result would also send a message that shortcomings related to gov- ernance and transparency are not enough to dent trust in Muscat's government and would confirm Bill Clinton's maxim that "it's the econ- omy, stupid." given the boot in union election years." Pace was actively on the forefront to convince the government to re- cruit more nursing staff, remove restrictions on graduate courses and create an information campaign to encourage more people to take up the profession. He was a critic of both Nationalist and Labour administrations, dub- bing the first Labour health minister, Godfrey Farrugia, "a consultant's lapdog". He criticised the present admin- istration for having failed to resolve the bed shortage in Mater Dei and instead "camouflaged corridors as wards". "Instead of corridors they became things like 'mixed admis- sions wards 1, 2, etc'. Nice names. You can play with them all you like… but corridors they were, and corri- dors they remained…" Earlier this year he took exception at MaltaToday for revealing that his son, 20-year-old Nicholas, had been employed by the ministry for social solidarity on a 'person of trust basis' to act as a procurement officer at the St Vincent de Paul state home for the elderly. The €21,000 job was granted with- out any call for applications to take up the post vetting tenders and pro- curement orders for the hospital. Pace had then claimed that his son had been "targeted" to the exception of "all the persons of trust employed by all governments". Pace even claimed that his role in defending nurses and midwives had made people "envious" enough to hit out at him. "I have nothing to be ashamed of… Rest assured [of] my continuous commitment not to you as members of MUMN only, but also to the good of our professions." Deep Labour (Always Labour with more than 60% voting Labour in last election) Kirkop Luqa Marsa Marsaxlokk Birgu Isla B'Bugia Dingli Paola Santa Lucija Zurrieq Zebbug Dingli Always PN but with fewer than 60% of votes Iklin Kercem Nadur Munxar Siggiewi Safi Gharghur St Julian's Deep Nationalist (Always Nationalist with more than 60% voting PN in last election) Attard Balzan San Lawrenz Swieqi Zebbug, Gozo Ghajnsielem Council with no overall majority Floriana Simon Busuttil addressing supporters at a party activity Paul Pace