A ‘Maltese Macron’ Could Rise And Defeat Both PL And PN, Jason Azzopardi Predicts
Malta’s political situation is such that a new party could rise and immediately win a general election, former PN MP Jason Azzopardi has suggested.
Azzopardi compared Malta with the situation France was in back in 2017, when Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche party stormed to victory in what was the first election it ever contested
“If a Macron – a centrist, charismatic, moderate, popular and credible politician – were to rise in Malta, he would have extremely fertile ground to defeat both PL and PN,” Azzopardi said.
“This is the result of several factors and an examination of conscience is required by many, as well as humility and decisive action in favour of the national interest.”
Azzopardi spoke out after a MaltaToday survey found that support for the PN has continued collapsing, with the party now trailing the PL by an estimated 60,000 votes.
While 38.7% of people intend to vote PL and 22.8% will vote PN, 23.9% of the electorate don’t intend to vote, which means non-voters now compose a larger cohort than PN voters.
ADPD also performed disastrously, with their support standing at a meager 0.7%, whole all the other small parties combined made up 2%.
ADPD has failed to capitalise on disillusionment with major political parties (Photo: ADPD leader Carmel Cacopardo)
“Democracy in our country is ill and getting sicker,” Azzopardi said of these results. “For the first time since Malta’s Independence, the number of people who don’t intend to vote has exceeded the number of people who will vote for the Opposition. At this rate, over 110,000 people won’t vote at next year’s MEP and local council election.”
“For the first time since Independence, the second largest party in Malta isn’t the party in Opposition but the non-voters who have lost heart and hope and who don’t see a future in traditional parties.”
Azzopardi warned that the absence of a strong Opposition is bad news for people concerned that the government is treating them unfairly, as well as for Maltese democracy in general.
This isn’t the first time the creation of a new political force has been mooted as a solution to capitalise on political apathy, with podcaster Jon Mallia proposing something similar after a historic number of people.
However, no one has put their name forward as a potential leader of this ‘new force’.
Cover photo: Left: Former PN MP Jason Azzopardi, Right: Prime Minister Robert Abela with French President Emmanuel Macron
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