Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/826629
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 MAY 2017 13 Analysis of two campaigns opportunity to lash out at Busut- til for endorsing the claims made against his wife in the crucial days between Daphne Caruana Galizia's allegations and Busuttil's exposé of suspicious payments involving Schembri's bank account in Pilatus Bank and a secret company. The Egrant allegation has also provided a plausible answer to the big unanswered question of last year: why did Muscat retain Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi in the first place? For Busuttil, it also rep- resents a quandary: if Muscat's in- volvement in Egrant is not proved, his political judgement would also be questioned. Both the oil scandal and Panama- gate have put the incumbents on the defensive but in this election the stakes are even higher. In normal circumstances, pay- ments involving a nebulous net- work of secret companies involving a PM's chief of staff would have been enough to trip the scales. But one should remember that in 2008, allegations on JPO which turned out to be true, only served to get the errant MP elected on two dis- tricts. Still in that case the allega- tions were only proven by Sant in the last televised debate with Gonzi. In this case the electorate has been aware of Schembri's and Miz- zi's Panama companies for more than a year. Auction of proposals In contrast to foreign elections where these are fought on a few key policy pledges and directions, Maltese elections are seeing both major parties appealing to a pleth- ora of interest groups and strategic categories of voters. The 2013 election saw both main parties competing in an auction of proposals, including a surreal oc- casion where the PL pre-empted a promise by the PN to distribute tablets to school children. The 2017 election also saw the parties outbidding each other on tax cuts. And while Muscat tried to belittle Busuttil's proposal to extend free childcare to everyone, Labour later rethought its op- position, proposing childcare for parents who study full time and families who have a terminally-ill member. For the first time a ma- jor political party has also taken a commitment not to develop a site identified for development by suc- cessive administrations. The Na- tionalist Party has also taken a firm commitment not to develop the White Rocks site. Role of interest groups While in 2013 Labour used the election to court a variety of in- terest groups, even those with conflicting interests, such as en- vironmentalists and developers in public gatherings, in the election so far Labour has focused exclu- sively on the gay lobby, relishing on the astounding performance of the Labour government, which is elevating Malta from a laggard to a leader in rights. This time round Labour does not need to court the developers' lobby because its per- formance in government already testifies to its collusion with big business interests. One major unknown remains the completion of the local plan revision, a process commenced in 2013 but deliberately left unfinal- ized. On the other hand Labour may have entirely lost hope on Green NGOs, while compensat- ing for its abysmal record on plan- ning by harping on air quality im- provements thanks to the closure of the Marsa and old Delimara power stations. The impact of small parties One striking difference with 2013 is that the PN is this time round presenting itself as a coa- lition with Marlene Farrugia's Democratic Party. Back in 2013 it was Labour which presented itself as a "coalition" of moderates and progressives. But the coalition did not include formal movements and parties but only individuals hailing from the other side glued together by their trust in Muscat. But so far, despite striking a his- toric deal with the PN, the Demo- cratic Party has failed to leave a mark on the campaign by selling itself as a guarantee of good gov- ernance in a PN government. Nei- ther has the party harped on the policy concessions it gained in the common platform with the PN, nor explained the benefits of vot- ing for the PD instead of directly voting for the PN. On this score the new party has been caught missing in action. This has been compensated by the central stage taken by Mar- lene Farrugia and her partner Godfrey, the former Labour whip, whose speech at a PN mass meet- ing in Zebbug may well have been a turning point for the coalition. Alternattiva Demokratika, which managed to portray itself as a fresh and young alternative in 2013, personified by its former leader Michael Briguglio, is now led by a more veteran leadership with Arnold Cassola and Carmel Cacopardo. The university debate between the leaders, which saw the evergreen Arnold Cassola ris- ing to the occasion with his barbs against Muscat and dose of intel- ligent humour, may have given the party a much needed boost. He surely came across as the most entertaining speaker of the debate even if his performance betrayed the party's contradiction: that of fighting an election against both the PN and PL while clearly hinting that Labour is the worst choice. For the party seems to be fight- ing an uphill battle, sending the contradictory message that both parties are the same, while at the same time hitting out at Labour on the central issue of the day, which remains Panama. And the far-right 'Patriots' have also failed to ride the crest of an anti-establishment mood despite having wind in their sail. With immigration concerns no longer high on the agenda, the unseem- ly and anti-Islamic patriots are clearly out of step. Corruption dominated this year's University debate Defectors: Marlene Farrugia and Godfrey Farrugia have taken centre stage in this year's election Labour's 2013 campaign was characterised by messages of inclusion