Valletta, Malta - Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on Monday announced elections for March 8 in what is set to be the first major test at the polls since the Mediterranean island state joined the Europe Union in 2004. Gonzi whose five-year term was to expire in a few months time on Monday presided over his last cabinet meeting before launching into what is expected to be an intense five-week electoral campaign.
Gonzi speaking at a news conference recalled how the March 8 date marks five years to the date since Malta narrowly voted in favour of EU accession in a referendum.
The election will also be Gonzi's first as outgoing prime minister, and despite a generous budget, his Nationalist Party is lagging in opinion polls.
Malta's electorate appears to be tired of having had a Nationalist government for all but 22 months of the last 21 years.
However, many analysts see Gonzi's best hope of re-election in the shape of his Labour Party counterpart Alfred Sant, who in 1998 froze Malta's EU membership bid and created a hotchpotch of taxes to replace value-added tax (VAT), leading to his government's downfall.
Ten years on, Sant has revised several policies and made it clear he is well prepared to govern, even if he underwent major surgery for cancer just six weeks ago.
Still, the Nationalist Party is clearly banking on Gonzi's charisma to win back reluctant voters.
The 54-year-old prime minister recently successfully steered the island's introduction of the euro, and with his dual role as finance minister, is widely credited for overturning the economy. Malta's unemployment rate is among the lowest in the EU.
But the electorate seems to be more interested in bread-and-butter issues such as the rise in the cost of living as well as the problem of illegal immigration.
During its long years in opposition, the Labour Party has repeatedly accused several of Gonzi's ministers of corruption.
Malta takes its elections seriously with voter turnouts of around 90 per cent usually recorded following the end of five weeks of daily campaigning, political debates - and mud-slinging.
With just 300,000 people eligible to vote, a mere 1,000 votes are enough to tilt the balance.
In a country with traditional voting patterns, the two small parties contesting - Alternattiva Demokratika (Greens) and the right- wing party Azzjoni Nazzjonali - are not expected to make any particular inroads.
