The humorous side of politics

Election candidates might be more tech-savvy this year than they were in 2008 – but so are voters. As politicians make sometimes unwanted overtures to the electorate through social media and the internet, the electorate is hitting back through the power of memes. Internet memes are broadly defined as images, videos, phrases or ideas that are virally transmitted. Malta’s young online community has been quick to embrace the satirical potential of this phenomenon, and those with the sharpest wits and claws have been busy creating and sharing topical election-based memes in recent weeks. The campaign slogans have come in for particular attention, with the Nationalists’ Futur fis-Sod (a secure future) being widely parodied as Futur fis-Sodda (a future in bed) – a suggestion, perhaps, that the PN will be able to take a rest after the election. On the same theme, the PN’s priorities of “work, health and education” have been replaced with some new ones: “Mattress, pillow and blanket”. Labour’s slogan Malta Tagħna Lkoll (a Malta for all) has not been spared either ­– with one image circulating of aliens holding up this message. Satirical website Bis-Serjetà has taken aim at both campaigns,...