The task before the MLP

The pause before electing a new leadership decided upon by the Labour Party was accompanied by the appointment of a five-person team to analyse the recent general election outcome.

There is little mystery to uncover and a lot of analysis has already presented itself. The MLP did not have the equal of the Nationalist Party's Lawrence Gonzi. He made his party look more credible, especially where Labour failed to convince as - once again - over relations with the European Union.

The Nationalist campaign was slicker. Though it included as much negative campaigning as Labour's, it balanced and dressed its offered menu much more attractively. The Labour media, reflecting the overly aggressive tone of the leadership, did not penetrate. And, where Labour stalwarts had ample access to other media, they carried with them the aggressiveness displayed almost hysterically in their own media, with the exception of Evarist Bartolo, who rarely fails to argue his case, rather than target opponents.

The MLP has a much more difficult task arriving at an agreement over how to tackle its coming challenges. It will need to learn from the past, for the main challenge will arrive, once again, in the form of Gonzi. He is now both experienced and chastened. He knows what the country does not want, and largely showed that recognition in the way he fashioned his second Cabinet. He will have at his disposal substantial EU funds, and has made sure they will be expended as effectively as can be by allocating the Transport Authority, responsible for roads, to Austin Gatt. The PM will also be dealing personally with the environment, once again with the assistance of EU funds, and with the controversial Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

If things go wrong over the next five years, Gonzi will be more directly in the blame line. But he will only stop short of snap in bending over backwards for things to go well. Meanwhile his natural charisma will be framed within a record of success, of which securing a third successive victory for PN will be only a part. For the MLP to stand a chance at the next general election, the new leader will have all of that to contend with, plus a Gonzi who will be a sharper disciplinarian with his Cabinet, MPs and party, with heightened authority to wield the whip at will when required.

So, then, does the MLP include a bunch of masochists, with so many individuals indicating that they want to lead the party? A canny friend of mine told me that the whole lot do not seem to be aware what they are in for. I think they do. They also believe that they can do it. And, of course it can be done. But it will be a heck of a job. The new leader will have to avoid the mistake that, because s/he heads a strong party, he has that as the starting point. The true starting point will be - already is - that, big as it remains, Labour has failed to convince a majority of the electorate that it is more qualified to run the country than the Nationalists, beleaguered as they were after an almost uninterrupted stint of 20 years in office.

The new leader will require good Euro credentials, acquired by conviction, ability to unite and mobilise, plus a good dose of charisma. To have full charge of the party machine will not be enough. To echo Dom Mintoff when he laid into PM Alfred Sant 10 years ago, s/he will have to demonstrate a strong grasp of the heart and soul of the Labour Party plus - I would add - a clear ability to persuade and penetrate among those who are not natural supporters of the MLP.

A lot will happen between now and June 5, when the leadership contest will take place.

What I hope will not happen is any display of a tendency among some so-called Labourites to take their poison pen out of its hiding place. Vicious anonymous letters have been used too often over the past two decades - and here I am not referring mainly to the poison liberally poured out in my regard in 1992. There were quite a few other despicable examples, honed against individuals who are not impregnable in the face of unlimited viciousness.

I augur a tough but harmonious contest. One where the contenders realise that yesterday's style did not work and will fail again. They have to offer a fundamental philosophical and practical review of what exactly it is that the party should stand for, and how best to hammer it into a coherent strategy that would make sense once again for the existence of a party of the left, be it centre-left or a bit farther out.

Above all I augur that the contenders will realise that, once the contest is over, the winner will have to work with yesterday's competitors, and they with the winner. Bruises there will be, but blood should not be spilt.

For some weeks the MLP will be looking back. That should be for no longer than it takes to learn from the lessons of the past. The great need now is for the contest electors to look forward over a five-year span, eyes wide open, senses all alert, with a determination to choose coolly with the head, not with emotional likes and dislikes.