There should be no doubt that under Alfred Sant's leadership, the days when the MLP propaganda machinery used to dub the publishing house of The Times as an assembly line producing lies (fabbrika tal-gideb) for the enemies of the people and when Labour's rent-a-crowd gave homage to their erstwhile demigod by burning down Strickland House in Valletta, are well and truly over.
Yet Labour's current relationship with the media is, to say the least, ambiguous. The news that MLP general secretary Jason Micallef had written to the media informing them that before they contact any party member or official - MPs, MEPs, local councillors and candidates - the permission of the party's Information Office must first be sought, did not surprise me, especially after John Attard Montalto's appearance on Bondi+ on PBS.
Yet what was meant to be a damage limitation exercise ended up by being more damning than anything that someone might have revealed to the media about the MLP. The MLP's general secretary later 'explained' to the Institute of Maltese Journalists that the directive was limited to guest appearances on radio and TV programmes, even though his original letter said otherwise. Getting a 'soundbite' from an MLP personality was therefore theoretically exempted from the permission of the 'Lord High' Information Officer.
Yet in practice this is what is happening today, especially with Dr Sant himself refusing to talk to the PN media, as happened last Sunday in Qormi after the MLP leader had addressed his followers at the locality's Labour Party club. Is he waging an 'unofficial boycott' of the PN media? Something similar was actually attempted by him in one of the two consecutive election campaigns that he lost. Not much positive effect there, of course!
Even more 'interesting' is the fact that this attitude was used by Dr Sant to cover up his refusal to comment on the mistake made by Mr Micallef who confused Informa, a unit within the PN's media.link company with a Luxembourg company of the same name that was awarded a contract by the National Statistics Office.
Why Mr Micallef keeps on refusing to admit his mistake and take it in his stride as a genuine mistake is beyond me. Some time ago, during this year's local council election campaign, Dr Sant confused Dr Mario Tabone, chairman of Heritage Malta, a state agency, with Dr Mario Tabone-Vassallo, chairman of the Friends of Wignacourt Museum, an NGO, after the latter made some comments regarding the controversy on the damage made to St Paul's Grotto. When Dr Sant realised his mistake, he acknowledged it and apologised to Dr Mario Tabone. Yet Jason Micallef refuses to acknowledge his somewhat similar mistake.
It seems that the people who run the MLP's propaganda machinery are more wary when it comes to admitting mistakes. They, of course, realise that in the run-up to the next general election, within less than two years, the party cannot afford to make or say anything that could negatively impinge on the perception that the ordinary man in the street has of the MLP and its leader.
Here they have a particularly distinct disadvantage in that every voting intentions survey carried out - whether revealed publicly by the newspapers that commissioned them, or kept secret by the parties that requested them - has uncannily shown that while the MLP might be leading the PN by a few points, there is no doubt that Lawrence Gonzi enjoys a higher degree of popular trust than that enjoyed by Alfred Sant.
The apparent contradiction is the result of people being dissatisfied with the present administration, while they are not comfortable with the idea of Dr Sant becoming Prime Minister once again.
This is - most probably - why the PN propaganda machinery concentrates on pushing Dr Gonzi, comparing him to Dr Sant whom it denigrates, while the MLP propaganda machinery concentrates on pushing the need for change and regularly produces 'plans' that purport to explain Labour's policies in various sectors. The fact that these papers mostly contain a repetition of clichés and practically no innovative ideas is irrelevant for the purpose of selling the perception that the MLP is a party that is ready to take over the reins of government, come election day.
In this scenario, the way Dr Sant and the MLP come across in the independent media is of paramount importance. The MLP continually attempts to pull off a two-timing exercise with these media - on one hand it heaps criticism alleging that these media are overtly against the MLP while it continually uses their facilities to get Labour's message across to their readers and audiences.
It is with this in mind that one should 'read' what was behind Mr Micallef's attempt to control whatever comes across via the media from the MLP's spokesmen, whether official or otherwise. During his appearance on Bondi+ Labour MEP John Attard Montalto, who was a member of Dr's Sant 1996 Cabinet, made some interesting disclosures about what happened in the first Cabinet meetings - something that did not fit in with Labour's plan of bolstering the perception of Labour as an alternative government.
His anecdote about Lino Spiteri advising Dr Sant to reverse his position on both VAT and EU membership hurt because it reminded people of the Labour leader's performance as PM and once again exposed him as having the sort of mulish obstinacy that continues to reinforce the perception that he is not suited to be Prime Minister. More so with hindsight, when his policy U-turns have become notorious through their sheer numbers.
Attempting to control the media to avoid this kind of negative vibes about Dr Sant in order to shake off off-putting ideas in the popular perception about him will prove to be the most important uphill struggle that the MLP propaganda machinery will have to overcome in the next two years. If the MLP manages to surmount this obstacle, the chances of their winning the next election will be clearly in their favour.
micfal@maltanet.net