Ranking The Support: Here’s How Loudly The Crowd Cheered For Each PL Candidate On 8th District
The Labour Party held a rally in Birkirkara this evening, with a speech by Prime Minister Robert Abela full of pledges and details on his plans to expand IVF accessibility on the island.
But keen-eyed viewers couldn’t help but notice, right before Abela began speaking, that all the PL candidates on the 8th district were introduced one by one, right after each other.
And the crowd couldn’t help but show just how popular each was based on sheer decibel levels.
With no less than 11 candidates on the district, ranging from cabinet ministers to first timers, the variance in the whoops, hollers and clapping from the crowd as each name was read out is a strong indicator of the popularity and support that candidate has on that district.
View this post on Instagram
Here’s how each candidate fared
Loudest support: Roderick Galdes, Edward Zammit Lewis and Clyde Caruana
It’s probably no surprise that three prominent ministers received the loudest applause, with Caruana’s financial experience being a central part of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent government response and Galdes’ work across Malta on social housing touching many families closely. However, it is worth noting that this is Caruana’s first time contesting an election.
Despite the controversies that Zammit Lewis faced over the last few months, he received possibly the loudest cheer – with Zammit Lewis himself punching the air as his name was read out, clearly feeling the love.
Mid-level support: Alex Muscat, Cressida Galea, Herbert Conti and Clayton Bartolo
While Muscat and Bartolo are also prominent PL ministers, the 8th district is not the primary district for either of them, so a secondary level of support is to be expected.
Newcomer Galea – aged just 25 and active on TikTok – received quite the warm round of applause with Conti receiving support from his own vocal support group, typically the hardcore Labourites considering Conti’s strong words against some PN counterparts.
Least decibels: Felix Busuttil Galea, Oliver De Gaetano, Christian Bonett, Fiona Borg Lewis
While all four of these candidates were showered with claps and shouts, none of them featured that extra bit of oomph that shows a candidate has made a major mark on a crowd.
While Busuttil Galea is a rather known face across Malta, his failure to be elected during the MEP elections may have been an early indicator that he still hasn’t made an impact with constituents.
Bonett recently contested for the role of Malta Football Association president, losing it to Bjorn Vassallo, once again indicating how broad his support base may – or may not – be.
While De Gaetano and Borg Lewis both received a respectable amount of applause, they need to do something to break out of the pack and start garnering some serious name recognition – if they hope to be elected come March.
You can watch the full rally here:
Were you expecting the crowd to react like that?
READ NEXT: Watch: Joseph Muscat's Co-Sign Given As Former PM Appears At Rosianne Cutajar's Election Rally
