In previous elections, both major political parties have been keen to exploit Malta’s fervent partisanship to manipulate voters into backing them regardless of policy position.

It’s a siege mentality tactic that has worked time and time again. ‘Us vs Them’ is tried and tested, so why are they desperate to avoid it.

Joseph Muscat used it to devastating effect in 2017. In the face of damning corruption allegations, some of which have proven to be true, Muscat turned the battle into a personal war between himself and then-PN leader Simon Busuttil.

The electorate lapped it up and a politically-charged atmosphere forced people to choose a side and defend it to the death. Muscat walked away with an even bigger majority, giving him carte blanche to bring Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi very much back in the fold.

Bernard Grech will be eager to avoid Busuttil’s grave mistakes, which included assertions that the election was about “principles not policy”, seemingly forgetting the reasons why the PN was voted out of government in the first place.

While Busuttil emboldened the PN’s base, it alienated outside voters it was hoping to win over. Grech has seemingly learned from this and is yet to give Abela an easy route to mobilise Labour Party supporters and once again create a divide that will be impossible to repair by election day.

Abela, on the other hand, wants to avoid direct confrontation for entirely different reasons. The more fiery personal attacks become between them, the stronger calls would be for several debates between the pair.

Abela, so far, has been reluctant to publicly debate his counterpart. It cuts a stark contrast to Muscat, who bullishly challenged Busuttil to a debate on Xarabank soon after damning allegations emerged, winning over the undying loyalty of his supporters.

In 2017, the overarching sentiment was that Busuttil’s campaign was doing more good than harm to the government’s reelection. Today, a large majority of the general public are still making up its mind over Grech, meaning that there is little to gain and all to lose in a face to face battle with the PN leader.

Abela has never shone in terms of public speaking or debates and will inevitably be compared to Muscat, whose skillset in this department was unparalleled.

Maltese voters love a strongman approach and if Abela fails to deliver, serious questions over his leadership will start to fester among the electorate and his inner circles ahead of the vote.

Also, recent evidence suggests that Abela is not that comfortable with debating, having shown his hand on issues like the drone outside the PN leader’s home and his tax issues. While also shying away from interviews and shows that would challenge his politics.

Still, Grech continues to be safe in his political approach and has still yet to inspire a large portion of disenfranchised voters that should be ripe for the taking by any competent opposition.

Of course, our boredom during the election campaign also rests on the shoulders of uninspiring political leaders who continue to repeat the same promises that we’ve heard time and time again.

Both major political parties are promising the world to voters, whether it’s plans to address the environment, pensions or rising cost of living. And if those don’t work, both the PL and PN have dished out freebie after freebie.

The carrot is on the stick, it just seems most of us are reluctant to jump this time.

Voter apathy is at an all-time high and it shows in the numbers. According to the latest surveys, almost 30% of all voters have either said they don’t know who they will vote for or will not vote altogether.

That could be as many as 90,000 voters. And while particular surveys might be dismissing that silent but significant minority as voters who will anyway choose red or blue come election day, it speaks volumes of the state of political engagement in the country.

And while the government and opposition are part of the blame, Malta’s intense political climate has played its part. Ever since the Panama Papers, the Maltese populace has been drowning under the weight of endless scandal and trauma.

Maltese people are exhausted, whether it’s from Egrant, Daphne’s assassination, Yorgen Fenech’s arrest, Muscat’s resignation and the ensuing political crisis, greylisting or COVID-19. We’re jaded by what we’ve seen and people seem to just want to return back to normal.

And while political parties must shoulder some fault, if we’re looking for people to blame, all we need to do is look in a mirror.

Still, how Maltese people remain apathetic in the face of everything that’s happened remains the largest mystery.

We are all complicit by omission for the state of the country and rather than use our vote, something which our forefathers gave their lives for, intelligently, we continue to saunter on, only to then complain about the eventual outcome and the worrying state of the country.

In the age of information, we almost try out hardest to not be informed. And remember, that only plays into the hands of the powers that be, who in truth care very little about the real issues that affect you and me.

They want the election to be boring. It’s the only way we won’t pay attention.

And while it’s certainly more boring, it should be the perfect opportunity for voters to get more engaged in policy as the election progresses and less focused on the tribalistic politics our politicians have exploited for decades.

It’s time to demand more from our political establishment.

Why do you think this election is boring?