Muscat’s party has haemorrhaged 25,000 votes in three years

The results of a survey published in The Malta Independent today show that the Labour Party has haemorrhaged 25,000 votes in the three years since the last general election.

This still leaves it with a majority of around 10,000 over the Nationalist Party – and while many appear to find this astonishing given the scale of the corruption and cronyism, I can’t say I do. It is really difficult for people who have made what they think is a smart and clever choice – and who have been rude, insulting and disparaging towards others who took them to task for it – to climb down from their decision and admit error even to themselves.

This is one of the reasons why, even of those 25,000 votes which the Labour Party has lost, comparatively few have yet moved to the Nationalist Party. It is already incredible enough (yes, even given the scale of the corruption and cronyism) that 25,000 people have changed their mind about Muscat’s party. To expect them to switch immediately to the Nationalist Party which they spent months if not years disparaging and insulting – because that is what Muscat and his brigands taught and trained them to do (yes, even the ones who think themselves so sharp and clever and well-educated) is pushing it.

It takes backbone to admit you were wrong. But it takes more than backbone to understand exactly why you were wrong and what you should do about it. It takes brains and integrity – and those are in remarkably short supply in Malta for a mixture of genetic and socio-educational reasons.