Polarised politics

The BBC has published an online guide to the European Parliament elections looking country-by-country at the main issues at stake. It indicates that national issue have overshadowed the purely European issues in most member states. This is what it says about Malta:

Two parties dominate Malta's polarised politics - the centre-right Nationalist Party, led by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, and the Labour Party, led by former MEP Joseph Muscat. Traditionally they are evenly matched. Malta has just five MEPs - the smallest representation in the EU.

The Spring 2009 Eurobarometer survey indicates that immigration is the biggest election issue in Malta, which is struggling to cope with boatloads of migrants from North Africa. Among Maltese respondents 67% put immigration top, compared with an EU average of 27%.