Editorial

A U-turn is not a U-turn when it is performed by a party's general conference. This most weird definition of a U-turn by the Labour Party's general secretary, Jason Micallef, given in an interview to The Times yesterday, must have raised a few eyebrows both within the confines of the party itself and in the island's world of politics generally.

For contrary to what Mr Micallef thinks and believes, a classic U-turn is exactly what his party has performed not just in its policy over European Union membership but, also, over its policy about its participation in local council elections and over the value added tax.

Mr Micallef told his interviewer that in their party's case (meaning as against that adopted by the Nationalist Party), it was the general conference that decided the way forward. "So, if you accuse us of U-turns, does it mean 900 people in our general conference are making U-turns?"

One can fully understand how hard it must be for the party's general secretary to admit the MLP's about-turn in policy over EU membership, but what does he think the party's rank and file feel about it? Do they feel, like him, that the MLP did not perform a U-turn at all? Mr Micallef needs to come down to earth, that is, if he really wants to feel the real pulse of his party's supporters.

The general secretary said he was convinced that they lost the last general election simply because of the EU issue. Simply?! That is the understatement of the year. EU membership was the major issue of the last election. How could the electorate vote in a party that did not believe in the country's EU membership when the majority of the people had just voted for membership? But Labour was obstinate enough to refuse to see the sign of the times then and went ahead contesting the subsequent election parading their "Switzerland in the Mediterranean" option as the best solution for Malta.

Had they respected the wishes of the electorate, as expressed in the referendum, they could well have made it to office. But Labour were in no mood to accept the people's verdict and the people, having made up their mind, had no option other than to elect the Nationalists again.

The MLP's general secretary says, now, that the party would have been foolish if it ignored the signs of the times and the writing on the wall. It would have indeed. He says: "It was the general conference that decided that a general election should dictate the party's final position on the EU. We had to accept the people's verdict and that is what we did. Irrespective of the stands taken in the past, it would have been stupid if we hadn't taken note of the pulse of the people." Yes, but the party took far too long to realise that.

The problem is that even now that the Labour Party has changed its policy and has declared that it will go along with the wishes of the majority, it is at times doubtful if they have been totally converted to the idea of Malta being a member of the Union.

What many in the Labour Party find even harder to take is that the leader taking the party to the next general election is the same one who fought so valiantly for Malta to remain out of the European Union. At least that is how it looks up to now.