So it begins: Malta heads to the polls for general election

Mar 26 2022

Malta is officially holding its 2022 general election today, Saturday 26th of March, and will elect the country’s 14th legislature.

Polling booths opened at 7am for the country’s 13 electoral districts and will continue to accept voters until 10pm. Up to 340,423 votes are set to be checked in today, with another 14,473 documents uncollected from the commission by Thursday’s deadline.

The short electoral campaign is set to end with a major win for Robert Abela’s Labour party according to several surveys carried out throughout the entire month of March.

Discussions about the margin between Labour and the Nationalist Party have yielded digits ranging from 28,000 to 39,000 votes. According to a Times of Malta poll carried out between March 5th and 15th, a 55.1% to 43.5% split in Labour’s favour is set to be expected. This translates to a difference of around 37,000 votes.

As for independent and third parties, they are expected to rack up between 1.3 to 2%. Political leaders have already started to cast their votes, with President George Vella expected to cast his own at around 11am in Zejtun.

The pandemic also led to the setting up of seven COVID-19 poll stations around Malta and Gozo to cater for voters in self-isolation or quarantine. Only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into the Naxxar counting hall.

Apart from happening during an ongoing pandemic and a war in Ukraine, this election will see 16 and 17-year-olds vote for the first time. This adds around 8,500 votes to the population.

The electoral commission has said that it will most likely take until the early hours of Monday morning to deliver the official result. The official winner will however be declared on Sunday morning as more indications as how the parties fared expected throughout the day.

#MaltaDaily

More alcohol related deaths due to pandemic stress in 2020 for Americans

Mar 26 2022

A new study which was led by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has revealed the immense impact of early-pandemic isolation for Americans who have substance-abuse problems.

The researchers sifted through a somber list of death certificates to tally all the passings in which alcohol was found to be an underlying or contributory cause.

It was determined that over 99,000 people suffered alcohol-related deaths in 2020, which is a 25.5% spike over the previous year. This means that more adults under the age of 65 died from alcohol-related factors (74,408) than from COVID (74,075) in 2020.

Alcohol-related deaths, which range from alcohol poisoning to liver disease to accidents, have shot up over the past 20 years with an annual average increase of 3.6% between 1999 and 2019.

However, a stark spike from 78,927 deaths in 2019 to 99,017 in 2020 confirms several studies which showed that people drank more to manage stress related to the pandemic. It also reveals the lack of support networks, especially as a byproduct of the pandemic measures.

Study author Aaron White told New York Times that lots of people were presumably undergoing recovery and had their support access reduced and thus relapsed.

The numbers are consistent with overall increases in mortality indirectly linked to COVID. In February, the US passed 1 million excess deaths since COVID began. This is a number that includes confirmed COVID fatalities (reaching 1 million) as well as an uptick in deaths from causes such as heart disease.

#MaltaDaily

Zwiit Cravings Cafe serves up political donuts for Election Day

Mar 26 2022

Malta is well known for its die hard approach to politics. And memorabilia related to the two main parties, Nationalist and Labour, are an iconic physical representation of how passionate the Maltese are about the subject.

But now, the game has been completely changed by Zwiit Cravings Cafe, who are serving up donuts shaped and coloured like the two main parties logos.

This means that as people go to exercise their right to vote today, the 26th of March, they can also head to the cafe and chomp down on some red or blue donuts just for the occasion.

The donuts are either shaped like the letters ‘P’, ’N’ or ‘L’, or are instead circular donuts with the initials of the party over coloured icing. Whichever one you choose, we’re sure they’re still delicious.

As aforementioned, political memorabilia is a common cultural phenomenon in Malta. We’ve seen mugs, phone covers, pyjamas and even finger nails for the favourite parties.

Some are clearly done for the jokes and online memes whereas others are pure memorabilia for sale for die hard party supporters. At least now the trinkets are edible and able to be enjoyed by all looking to satisfy their sugar crave.

#MaltaDaily

Malta beats Azerbaijan 1-0 in friendly international match

Mar 26 2022

A goal by Jurgen Degabriele handed Malta’s national football team a win over Azerbaijan in a friendly International at the National Stadium.

The local team opened their 2022 commitments with a positive score as the Hibernians forward found the net for the winning score early on in the second half.

Devis Mangia’s team gave a stunning performance and play, creating many opportunities to score throughout the entire match. Despite Degabriele’s goal being the only one for the evening, the team showcased their polished skill and determination.

It was mostly due to the Azerbaijani’s goalkeeping, a post held by Salahat Agayev, that the local players did not manage to field more goals. The Maltese will be donning their red kits once more on Tuesday’s warm up against Kuwait.

For their next match, the team hopes to continue building on the momentum they acquired yesterday. The match against the Azerbaijanis was also a special match for the Maltese team as it marked the 103rd and final play in international football for Andrei Agius.

Before kick-off, Malta Football Association Bjorn Vassallo presented Agius with a memento to commemorate all his plays and his final match with the team to resounding applause.

#MaltaDaily