The Rise of the Independent.
The start of a new era?
I think it’s a pretty safe assumption to make that no one outside of university (and even a good chunk of university students too) really gives a toss about the KSU Elections. It took me 3 years on Campus to finally bother to figure out who was actually running for the thing. That being said, it does get a bit of national attention, whether it’s to fill a slow news day with a fluff piece on student life, remind everyone that KSU is one of the oldest student councils in Europe, or simply resurrect the connection to national political parties( something that has been kept alive by this years general election as well).
To be fair, a lot us disinterested students (which according to recent and older voting turnouts is the majority of the student population) have always seen the election as something between Pulse and SDM, a popularity contest that seems to only attract those reliving the socio-political drama that was Junior College. A spectacle made all the more underwhelming by one side just picking up their ball and going home because they never win. That is, until one man stood up and decided to throw his hat in the ring.
After years (at least it felt like years) of hearing tantrums and complaints that the system is broken… someone decided to actually play the game, suddenly it dawns on you that, Hey! There’s no rule saying that only Pulse or SDM can run for KSU.
Yes, the results didn’t play out in Mr. Martinelli’s favour, but from where I’m standing, the guy is a hero. At the very least he made the whole electoral process just a bit more interesting, but the big point is, he upset the system. I took pleasure watching people (a lot of whom I still gladly call friends) so set in a system of assurances look a little bit panicked, but maybe that was just me.
The lesson that everyone should take from Chunky’s political skirmish, is that the game isn’t set in stone, the system is more open than it appears. Whilst it is too late for me to take up the mantle and look forward to next years election (it would take a lot more than that to get me to start another course). I do hope that a lot more students do realise that they to can rise up and take on the challenge.
Hell, I look forward to reading about an election of candidates and not parties. At the very least, maybe we’ll actually get debates that aren’t two organisations bickering at each other over stuff no one actually cares about.
Till next time,
Stay Tuned…
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This is part of a series of Blog posts which form part of a Synoptic Portfolio Project for a Final Year Communications student at the University of Malta.
