Inspirational Labour leader

As a Labourite and a member but not a delegate of the party which I have followed since my youth, I feel that I have the right to express my opinion about who is best to lead the party towards the next election.

I also feel a responsibility to make this judgement public and appeal to the delegates or those who will choose the leader of our party on June 5.

I have no hidden agendas and the only contender so far whom I am familiar with and consider as one of my friends is not my preference. I am saying this to confirm that my choice is based on the best person that I think will give us a competitive advantage over our opponents; the person who for many years showed the leadership skills needed for us to increase our share of votes and not the person whom I am the mostly associated with. This is the way delegates need to make their choice. Meritocracy should prevail and nothing else.

The Labour Party is lucky to have people like George Abela ready to take the helm. All the other contenders are valid but Dr Abela's experience, charisma, intelligence, diplomacy and the convincing manner in which he communicates with all stakeholders, supersedes that of the others.

His age is not a barrier since what matters is how you think and manage.

Malta's main leaders are very experienced. Lawrence Gonzi and Archbishop Paul Cremona are in their late 50s and early 60s but are still good leaders who appeal to people of all walks of life. Labour needs that leader who is able to build bridges with people and entities who in the past two decades didn't support the party.

Dr Abela's vision on EU membership is crystal clear and he will have no objection to criticising wrong decisions taken by the party over the past few years.

The fact that he chose to leave the party prior to the 1998 election confirms that he is the right man. He wasn't a yes man and he has been proved right. Others have confirmed they were against that decision but didn't have the ability to say no.

Moreover, Dr Abela quit but never stabbed the party or its leaders in the back. After the 2003 election defeat, he was also ready for the leadership race. However, Alfred Sant then withdrew his resignation.

Let's all hope that this time round the party delegates make the right decision.

This is our chance to re-unite the party. I am sure Dr Abela will be ready to collaborate with each and every person prepared to give his honest contribution to the party. There will be no place for conflicts within the party and where needed, change must take place. People like Joseph Muscat, at the age of 35, will have the opportunity to work closely with Dr Abela so that the party will also guarantee the best successor to him in less than 10 years' time.

As an honest party member I sincerely wish to see this scenario after June: Dr Abela as leader together with one or two of the other contenders as deputies. All these are valid, but not as leaders. Many agree that this is the right equation but it may be impossible to achieve since the delegates won't choose Dr Abela.

But if we know that this is the winning formula why shouldn't we choose it? It will not be easy to win next time so we can't afford to make any more mistakes. George Abela may be our saviour.