Maltese voters are comfortably numb in the “Mediterranean Dubai”

Roberta Metsola’s decision to visit Israel just days after the Hamas attack of 7 October was intended as a show of solidarity. But as Israel unleashed its military might, the European Parliament President soon realised that the visit would come back to haunt her in her native Malta.

“Instead of using her position to send a powerful message to stop the deaths and find a peaceful solution, she [Metsola] only saw an opportunity for personal publicity,” Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela told supporters. 

Metsola’s repeated calls to Israel to uphold strict adherence to international law and humanitarian principles in its war in Gaza have done little to placate her critics in the Malta Labour Party who continue to brand her a “genocide enabler”. 

It is no wonder that the ruling Labour Party has put Metsola in the line of fire ahead of the European elections. They know that only she stands in the way of another landslide victory for the Labour, at the hands of her centre-right Nationalist Party. 

Metsola’s popularity eclipses that of her party and as we head towards the European elections, the Labour Party is expected to win resoundingly – the only issue is the margin of victory. 

The last survey commissioned by the Times of Malta showed Labour cruising to a 13% lead in the run-up to elections – impressive for a party that has won every single election in the EU’s smallest state since 2008. 

The Nationalist Party struggles to shake off perceptions of being rudderless and uninspirational, despite having four leaders in eleven years. A disastrous result for the Nationalist Party could signal an exit for party leader Bernard Grech [no family ties to the author]. If that happens, the doors could swing open for Metsola, widely considered the natural successor and the only chance that the Nationalists have to challenge the Socialists for power.