Malta's post election chaos!

Once every four years Malta's tensions, stress and emotions reaches exploding point as the general elections are held. Every four years the country becomes divided as each party whips the Maltese citizens into a frenzy through billboard advertising, TV ads, TV talk shows and mass meeting. Finally there is a semblance of quiet as the candidates end their campaign in the run-up to voting day. Finally the day arrives, where every Maltese citizen votes, and I mean every Maltese citizen, whether they are able to or not! If you live in Malta and are Maltese you vote. If you live outside of Malta the government flies you back to Malta to vote (within Europe). The healthy vote, and the sick vote. My grandfather, bless his soul, was taken to vote, and he's pretty much bed-ridden with cancer and dementia. Although to be fair, his dementia did not stop him from knowing who to vote for, the same party he has voted for since he was first allowed to vote, and his wish ended up coming true.

Oh, I mentioned that the government flies Maltese back to Malta to vote, well, that's me. I live in the UK but whenever there is a general election, council election, or referendum I pay a nominal amount, hop on an Air Malta plane and go do my duty as a Maltese person. I love it!

So, how does voting in Malta work and whom are the candidates? In short (as I certainly don't want to put you, the reader, to sleep) Malta uses the Single Transferable Vote system (STV). There are only two countries in the world that uses this system, The Republic of Ireland and Malta. This system, which was invented in the 19th century, is apparently regarded as one of the fairest ways to translate the wishes of the voters into parliamentary seats for candidates and parties. Unlike the UK and USA, for example, which uses a first-past-the-post system, Maltese voters are asked to numerically rank candidates on a ballot, and may choose candidates from different political parties.  There are three main parties in Malta: Nationalists (PN), Labour(PL), and Democratic Alternative (AD), plus the odd independent here and there.


And Malta's 2013 overall party winner with the most seats obtained in parliament is... (drumroll)... The Malta Labour Party! And this is where the chaos begins!

For two to three days after the election winners are announced Malta transforms itself into one huge party, with loud and noisy carcades. No shops open, and most Maltese are given a day off on the Monday, mainly cause it's impossible to get around Malta without getting stuck behind a carcade. So of course I just had to see all the action and tried to get some photos that captures the sheer emotional charge of the island.

Photos below were taken as I was walking from Gzira to Sliema.

 

 

 So, after careful observation of the revellers (me sat at a lovely bar/cafe with a glass of white wine in the sun... ah such hardship), I've come to the conclusion that there are three different types. The most common are those that decorate a massive truck then all pile onto it with loud music, beer, and bad dancing moves.

And here come the bad dance moves...

The second type of revellers are those that have foregone the pleasures of riding on the trucks and instead either hang their bodies outside their cars or stand/sit on top of their cars. For some the dedication to the victory of their party is such that they have spray painted their cars in the party colours and couldn't care less about the dents they're making on their lovely cars.

And finally the third type of reveller are those that take their life into their own hands by happily walking in the middle of the road not caring whether they get run over or not. Of course, their party won and that makes them invulnerable!

For me though, it's the slogans painted along the trucks and cars that amuse me.

So there you have it, Malta's post-election fervour. Four days after the elections things are finally winding down in Malta, business is back to usual and the trucks and cars are back to being used for normal, everyday reasons. Election talk has now come off the street and is confined to private homes and television. The Maltese have laughed, cried, and vented their emotions, that is until the next election!

On another note...

Unfortunately my good intentions of keeping up this blog went way south after I left Malaysia. I blame work! However I still want to finish off my Malaysia posts, mostly because I see my blog both as a diary for myself and to show my friends and family what I've been up to. Hopefully it won't be half a year before my next post though. Happy reading :-)