Maltese General Election, 2013

This weekend held the Maltese General Election, a chaotic event occurring once every five years which was unlike any other I have encountered. The Maltese are finely divided between the Labour party, this year campaigning for change, and the Nationalist party which has been in power for the past 15 years. Historically, Malta has an extremely high voter turnout percentage - above 90%! The Maltese government even pays to fly citizens back from the continent and elsewhere around the world in order to partake in the process. Ever since our arrival here last week, we've been noticing political billboards lining the streets for both the Labour and Nationalist parties, as well as the candidates running from each, and even a few AD, or "Green Party", adverts. Nearly every Maltese citizen that we spoke to mentioned the election, as well!

On Thursday evening our host stopped by to brief us for the coming events. He ran through a short history of Maltese politics, emphasizing the strong presence of factions in the country’s birth and growth. These factions are reflected in sports, religion, politics, and many other aspects of the Maltese culture. In previous elections, the country has stood divided 50/50 between parties. This teetering ratio is exemplified in the following fact: Malta has 400,000 inhabitants; in 2008 the Nationalist party won by approximately 1,000 votes.

On a side note, the Maltese population is also divided between support for the English and Italian football teams. This rift will be cool to see when we go to our football game between Malta and Italy on March 28^th. Interestingly, some inhabitants of Malta root for Italy over their home country!

Our discussion on Thursday also covered the details of the election. The Maltese election is always held on a Saturday. The Friday before is referred to as the ‘Day of Reflection’. During this time, all news advertisements on the TV and radio are prohibited from discussing politics so that the voters can clear their minds and make a critical decision regarding their leading government for the next five years. On Sunday, the votes are tallied and the winner is chosen. Depending on how close the tally is, this decision may transpire anywhere from 12:00PM to 11:59PM. In the case this weekend, the Labour party won with 55% of the popular vote at roughly 12:30PM.

Now for the fun part. Our current residence is located in Sliema, Malta - a city that is known to be a ‘Nationalist stronghold’. The winning party generally likes to party and tease the supporters of the losing party in their hometowns. Since the labour party won, the promenade a block from our apartment was bustling with honking cars, firecrackers, loud music, and crowds of people! Regardless of party affiliation or political views, it has been an extremely interesting and exciting experience to see the passionate citizens take to the streets out of sheer joy and pride!

One of the many party cars passing through Sliema (currently and for the past day and a half)