The official first-count results
Our MEPs were so efficient that two of them were voted out
Labour – 54.77% (135,917 votes)
Nationalists – 40.49% (100,486 votes)
AD – 2.34% (5,802 votes)
Imperium Europa – 1.47% (3,638)
AN – 0.64% (1,602)
Various others – 0.17% (434 votes)
2004 percentage for Labour – 48.42%
2004 percentage for Nationalists – 39.76%
Simon Busuttil (68,782 first-count votes) and David Casa (6,539 first-count votes) to retain their seats – Roberta Metsola best placed for sixth seat (5,880 first-count votes)
Louis Grech (27,753 first-count votes) to retain his seat – Glenn Bedingfield and John Attard Montalto have lost theirs
Joseph Cuschieri (19,672 first-count votes) and Edward Scicluna (24,574 first-count votes) are best placed for the other two seats
The vote-quota for a seat is 41,362.
Other first-count votes: Claudette Abela Baldacchino (12,309), John Attard Montalto (12,880), Glenn Bedingfied (4,982), Sharon Ellul Bonici (6,051), Marlene Mizzi (17,724), Vince Farrugia (4,056), Marthese Portelli (5,245)
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Seems like Mrs. Mizzi won’t be donning her Burberry boots/bag/raincoat/hat/whatever else in Brussels after all.
I wouldn’t be too sure as to who the PN representatives are going to be, besides Simon. There was no pattern on the second and third preference except the rather obvious starting from Simon and going all the way down in numerical order. That does place David Casa in apparent pole position but it truly can go any way between Roberta, Marthese and Vince and David. S
I spent the night there. Marthese Portelli’s result is a surprise. I must say that I was impressed with this lady. She stayed with us all through the night, encouraging us during the scrutineering. We appreciated that. She has obviously done a two month intensive door to door campaign. Watch this rising star in the PN.
The 2s and 3s and their lack of apparent pattern mean that the PN candidates worked largely as a team as well. There were very few PN people who just voted for one candidate and that’s it. On the other hand, I saw a lot of ballot-sheets with Sharon’s space being left out on the MLP side.
This gives credence to what the MLP people told me, that they don’t like her and don’t consider her one of them, and that they are unhappy with her running around in X5 Beemers and spending oodles of money on parties and giveaways. It had the opposite effect on the electorate, and it’s obvious that she was not a socialist. I wonder what scheme paid for that campaign. If she’s astute at gaining funding, then good luck to her, but let’s not pretend that we are in Brussels on some noble political mission, shall we?
The voting pattern was clear. The people who bothered to go door to door did reasonably well. Many PN voters were annoyed that MPs and ministers didn’t involve themselves in the MEP campaign. I don’t think thats wholly true, because some did. But they could have done much more.
[Daphne – Oh dear, I so don’t agree with that. Ministers are paid to do an important job. It would be wrong if they were to use their time and salary to campaign for the party in an MEP election. It’s the same with MPs – why in God’s name should they campaign for the European Parliament? Their business is the national parliament. Maltese politics is so unevolved.]
It’s time for the PN to stop saying that they have to listen more, and to start to actually do more. It’s time the PN rank and file weed out the people who are trying to trip up Gonzi just for the sake of it. It’s time these people decided on whose side they are. The PN is bigger than Gonzi and their rather inflated egos. And it’s also time that ministers and parliamentary secretaries woke up to the fact that they should be the electorate’s champions, not the civil service’s.
You may all think I am a throwback. But I believe that the electoral programme’s ownership belongs to the PN, and the PN should make damn sure it’s implemented, no matter what anyone thinks. If the PN takes a back seat and lets the civil service implement the programme without constant checks that it is done as the electorate wishes, then Joseph Muscat deserves to be PM next time around and we deserve what we get when that happens.
Granted, Daphne. But this election was fought on national issues, as are most elections in the EU. That’s where ministers should get involved. These elections were a good sounding-board. The messages passed were national ones. That’s where ministers and MPs should get stuck in.
this is 2004 mep elections
Malta Labour Party
118,983 48.42%
Nationalist Party
97,688 39.76%
Alternattiva Demokratika
22,938 9.33%
All others
6,113 2.49%
this is 2009 mep elections
Labour – 54.77% (135,917 votes)
Nationalists – 40.49% (100,486 votes)
AD – 2.34% (5,802 votes)
Imperium Europa – 1.47% (3,638)
AN – 0.64% (1,602)
Various others – 0.17% (434 votes)
Mrs Caruana Galizia,
you wrote that you cannot compare general election to mep elections. So i thought how about comparing 2004 and 2009, I know that 5 years have passed since, but it is interesting to read what you think about this. Thanks
[Daphne – read my latest post. You can’t compare an EP election to a general election, but using Muscat’s own general election yardstick, he’s lost votes over the last general election. There have been so many changes since 2004 that extrapolation is difficult. The really interesting assessment is of the Labour vote in this election. Muscat has far fewer votes than Sant did last year. Assuming that was the Labour core vote, where did large parts of it go if new votes joined Labour from AD and the Nationalists? Or did no new votes join Labour at all?]
You said it. No new votes joined Labour. I’ve been saying this for ages: Malta is split 50-45 for Labour. That’s the constant, cast-iron vote. It’s those five percent who elect PN governments. When they decide to do otherwise, Labour wins by default.
I assume the Labour voters who supported George Abela never really forgave Muscat, plus those who still do not believe in the EU maybe?
I wonder whether the important alphabetical order listing of Abela Baldachino and Attard Montalto may not well be of help in overtaking Cuschieri as votes start being inherited.
On the basis of these figures, the sixth seat is up for grabs. To win it, the PN need their third best candidate to do better than the PL’s 4th best one (currently Mizzi with almost 18,000). The situation may be clearer after Simon’s surplus is transferred.
After the second count, the sixth seat is looking less likely to go to the PN than before.
It’s encouraging to see that the Nats increased the number of votes they polled.
Dear Head Boy – I’d rather have a 100 Mrs Mizzis than one incompetent Joseph Cuschieri.
Joseph Cuschieri gained so many first count votes mainly due to the behind the scenes canvassing that was done on his behalf by Joseph’s henchmen at every PL club. Labour and Joseph Muscat primarily are in debt to Cuschieri for giving up his parliamentary seat to the leader.
What did you expect? That Muscat was going to leave him out?
Grow up lads.
Nigel – Oh ! So that’s how it goes with Labour voters. I thought we voted according to the candidates’ competence, and nothing else. Seems like I’m really green when it comes to politics.
Janine, Do you really think that Cuschieri is competent to be elected as an MEP? If you think so and you chose him over Attard Montalto than God forbid that Labour might win the general election.
Muscat and Labour had to repay Cuschieri somehow and EUR7600 per month and Eur300 per day subsistence allowance is more than compensation, don’t you think?