Election Playbook: You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few Grech(Mintoff)s

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Eggs in the moonlight: It was a shame to see such a loss of chicken life on the stage of Sir Temi Zammit Hall, especially from a party that is so unabashedly pro-life. Partit Abba leader Ivan Grech Mintoff made a scene during the KSU/MUDU debate, hosted by MaltaToday and Lovin Malta (#shamelessplug #Ewropej2024). After the first question put to him, he criticised the set-up of the debate, the lack of time allocated to his party compared to the PNPL, and dropped an egg on the stage as he walked out of the hall. Debates are usually good moments for a mic drop, but an egg drop? I fear this was totally unique.

Peppa pig for the masses: James Ryder came out with one of the most concrete proposals presented in Sir Temi Zammit hall on Thursday: tap into European funds and translate popular movies and TV shows into Maltese, especially those targeted to children. I would have loved growing up with a Maltese version of my favourite Disney shows. Hannah Montana? Suite Life? From now on, it’s Hannah Fontana and Il-Ħajja Ħelwa ta’ Żakk u Kowdij.

Too cool for school: Did you want to follow the University debate but thought it would be too boring? Then you have immaculate foresight. You can go here for a round-up of the meatier topics, but now I’m just going to spotlight the more humorous moments and one-liners from the event. For example, when Arnold Cassola was asked whether he feels like a broken record at this point, to which he replied: “Do you prefer CDs?” And when Daniel Attard claimed that young people are interested in politics, citing the presence of student organisations at the debate, and James Ryder rebutted with one sentence: “Have you looked at the empty theatre?”

Candidate-launch: The Labour Party launched its line-up of MEP candidates on Thursday morning during a press conference at the Mdina ditch. Hours later, the Nationalist Party issued its own press call to present its candidates for the local council election in an event at Ġnien l-Għarusa tal-Mosta again. Grech promised that his party’s councillors would ensure that a carrying capacity study is carried out for their locality, and Abela promised that his MEPs will prioritise Maltese families, workers and businesses in Brussels

Candidate-watch: A quarter of the ballot list was at the University debate, and the rest of the PNPL camp attended the candidate launches of their respective parties. A debate was aired in the evening between ADPD’s Sandra Gauci, David Agius and Steve Ellul. Arnold Cassola launched his electoral manifesto.

What’s happening today?: Robert Abela will be in Ħal Tarxien for a community event at 5:30pm. Arnold Cassola is meeting Friends of the Earth at their Floriana office at 11am. This space will be updated if more events come along.