Labour should re-think its EU policy

I could not understand how Desmond Zammit Marmarà is surprised (August 21) that "there are already people who want to re-open the EU membership debate". The EU membership debate is still going on in various EU member states - particularly in Great Britain - despite the fact that these countries have been integrated in the EU for decades. How can one then expect Malta's membership to be a "closed chapter" when we still have to join officially?

What I find "suicidal" (to use the same term as Mr Zammit Marmarà did) is for Labour to forget all it had said about membership up to just five months ago. As well as to forget the fact that 134,000 voters had given it their vote precisely because it was advocating a different type of relationship to full membership. Especially when first indications point to Labour, CNI and the GWU having been right about the consequences of membership.

I cannot leave without comment Mr Zammit Marmarà's astounding statement: "Despite all this, Mr Mintoff and Dr Mifsud Bonnici's FMI has a certain degree of support among Labour old-timers (you're wrong there, Desmond). If this support increases as a result of the government's poor performance in relation to EU affairs, heavy pressure would be put on the Malta Labour Party to change its (present) position on membership".

What my friend has forgotten is this. If, for argument's sake, the PN government makes a success out of EU membership, all merit will be given to the PN government (and deservedly so) and not to Labour, which had campaigned against membership. So Labour will most certainly lose the next general election in 2008.

If, on the other hand, EU membership brings with it many more burdens and sacrifices instead of benefits for the people, Labour stands an excellent chance of winning the election. But it will have to offer the people a way out of the impasse of membership. If it does not do this, it will risk losing once again, despite the poor performance of the PN government.

There is still time to re-think this "new policy" which the "new" Labour leadership has embarked on - a policy which was obviously botched-up so early and when the party was still under the initial shock of electoral defeat.