Time for some comic relief!

Speaking last Monday to Super One TV on what the future holds for the MLP under his continued leadership, Alfred Sant thought it was about time he sent a message on the need being felt, somehow or other, for a Maltese satirical newspaper ("tinhass il-htiega li jerga' jkun hawn gazzetta ohra bil-Malti ta' natura satirika").

As one who prides himself as possessing a sense of humour that is - alas - often misunderstood and misinterpreted, I should have, perhaps, jumped with joy and plotted a turncoat exercise that would lead me to join Alfred Sant's newest labour!

No, but seriously (with apologies to Sylvanus) can anyone, for the life of me, explain how the relaunching of an MLP satirical newspaper in Maltese is a relevant ingredient of the magic formula that is to lead to the electoral success that has been eluding Dr Sant for some time? Is this what the voting delegates of the MLP General Conference wanted to hear before they voted him back in the leadership post?

I am writing before Thursday evening when the vote in this extraordinary MLP leadership election was to take place, but I am taking the liberty of assuming that Dr Sant will make it, even though I dare not say by what margin.

After his dramatic announcement on May 1, when he emotionally told his henchmen that he had reconsidered his intention not to stand again for the MLP's top post - made just after a carefully staged public demonstration asking exactly for this reconsideration - Dr Sant probably thought it was time for some comic relief!

But, is it?

John Attard Montalto and Anglu Farrugia talked about the need for the MLP to get their act right and the need for the removal of the clique and of the 'mercenaries' that have taken over the party's media and the day to day running of the party. They insisted that the higher echelons of the party's structure should be accessible to the party activists who do all the donkey work for the party - meaning that under Dr Sant this was not possible. They insisted that decisions should be taken collectively and not from top to bottom and that the party's credibility has suffered because of too many U-turns.

Faced with all this, Dr Sant thought it wise to make a clarion call for a satirical paper. That was the all-important "punch" that he could master to make his case for re-election! Sometimes I wonder whether all this was for real!

Whatever the result of Thursday's ballot, the MLP needs to reinvent itself. Otherwise it risks becoming irrelevant and obsolete. It needs to have a clear vision of its role in the first years of Malta's membership in the European Union. It needs to rebuild its image so as to become electable.

This is not just about Labour supporters suffering one humiliating defeat after another. It is all about the Maltese people getting the best possible deal from the Parliamentary democracy system that everybody subscribes to. In our system, the government of the day needs to dialogue continually with the potential government of tomorrow. If the potential government of tomorrow is permanently in a sorry mess, the whole country will suffer. The quicker the MLP starts looking forward rather than backwards, the better.

While the leadership issue was pending, we had two previous MLP leaders trying to push their ideas. Dom Mintoff wants a future Labour government to renegotiate the agreed conditions of Malta's accession to the EU, which means that he is talking of Malta remaining a EU member. Rather late in the day for this, considering that the MLP refused to participate in any way in the consultations that were carried out during the EU membership negotiations.

On the other hand, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici talks of the MLP bringing about a shift in the opinion of the majority about EU membership, which means quitting the EU as soon as possible!

As if two former MLP leaders - from days and circumstances long gone by - meddling in the MLP political scene are not enough, we have had the three contestants for the leadership explaining why each of them thinks he is just what the MLP needs.

Reporting on the interviews the three leadership contestants had on Super One TV, the GWU daily l-Orizzont last Tuesday headlined its story with the 'news' that all three contestants agree that in Parliament the Opposition should vote against the ratification of the EU accession treaty.

The fact that the three contestants agreed on one small detail was important enough as to be considered the news of the day by l-Orizzont. The snide remarks they passed on each other must have been considered irrelevant by whoever wrote and edited the story.

With news like this, who needs a satirical paper!?