Labour's empty seats

It wasn't a surprise to any observer of the Maltese political scene that the post-mortem report commissioned by the Labour Party about the last general election defeat claimed that the issue of credibility of Labour's stances was at the bottom of it. Labour hasn't had credible policies for years. The shambles of the Switzerland in the Mediterranean/Partnership policies easily come to mind. But there were others, many others.

One would have thought though that MLP and, what's more important, its leadership have learnt some lessons from the past and started to avoid past mistakes. However, it doesn't look like it. The euphoria of the unanimous parliamentary approval of the European constitutional treaty a few weeks ago has disguised Labour's lack of credibility about the affair. One would have thought that such an important debate in Parliament would have seen the full participation of Labour's cohort, first of all as a sign of respect to Malta's sovereignty, which was being exercised through the debate, and secondly to at least give the impression that the MLP was united behind its approval of the treaty.

According to reports in the media only five Labour MPs were present when the motion was presented by the Prime Minister. Labour always boasts about its democratic credentials yet here we had an example of how the majority of Labour MPs didn't even have the decency to honour the wishes of their party delegates who voted by a large majority in favour of the approval of the constitutional treaty. What's more serious is the fact that the Labour leadership justified its U-turn on the EU as a sign of respect of the wishes of the Maltese people expressed freely at the last election. Hence the absence of the majority of Labour MPs from Parliament on July 6 was also an insult to that same majority.

Of course, Malta can still claim it now has the unanimous support on the vexed issue of its membership of the EU which has poisoned the political atmosphere for many many years causing economic havoc all the way. But is this the end of the story? I have my doubts.

Looking at the short list of Labour MPs present in the Chamber for the vote, that is Charles Mangion, Leo Brincat, Joe Mizzi, George Vella and Joe Cuschieri, must cause endless speculation. Dr Mangion is Labour leader Alfred Sant's deputy, Mr Brincat is spokesman for foreign affairs, Mr Mizzi is Labour's Whip and Dr Vella is Labour's spokesman on the EU. Interestingly enough the last one did not speak a word on the matter! While the four MPs could have been in the Chamber out of duty, what prompted Mr Cuschieri not to follow the lead given by so many others and stay away from the debate is anybody's guess.

In the face of an absence of an explanation why such massive absenteeism occurred on the night, it is legitimate to ask whether some Labour MPs decided to wash their hands of the whole affair because they do not see eye to eye with Labour's leadership on this change of policy which Dr Sant himself had turned into a matter of principle for the whole Labour movement. They may have reasoned it out. Their constituents, after all, voted them in and their loyalty was to them in the first place. They may have decided not to participate in order to claim, when push comes to shove in the future, that they didn't vote for the treaty. After all if Labour loses the next election the whole sordid story of the party's lack of credibility would come to haunt the leadership once again.

Some Labour MPs are renowned for their opposition to EU membership and the last thing they wanted on their political CVs was to be counted among those who did not oppose the European constitutional treaty, which contains in it the original Treaty of Accession as signed by Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami in Athens in April 2004.

Unless we are told differently, every empty seat in the parliamentary Chamber on the night in question has a story to tell. Democracy demands explanations. Not that we will get them.

Tomorrow: Labour's empty words.