George Abela is determined to contest the Labour leadership election, even if his request for wider voter participation is turned down. He tells Herman Grech about alleged attempts to scupper his bid and makes a series of surprising revelations.
The scene of George Abela on the podium delivering what appeared to be his swan song in the midst of the Labour Government's crisis in June 1998 remains among the most poignant in recent political history.
As temperatures flared both outside and inside the Ħamrun headquarters, Labour's deputy leader pointed to the delegates and informed them that he intended to quit if the party forged ahead with a premature election.
"There was a reason why 10 years ago I specifically used the words 'I will stop here'", the 59-year-old lawyer tells The Sunday Times.
Despite his well-publicised falling-out with Alfred Sant, for the next 10 years, Dr Abela kept a low profile, and suppressed his views to ensure he caused no harm to the party he had helped revive from the ashes in the space of five years. He refused to give comments to the media and his public appearances were normally connected with his role as General Workers' Union legal representative, until he also fell out with the union's administration.
But nearly 10 years on from that well-known speech, Dr Abela is prepared to give vent to the frustration and grievances he has long kept bottled up.
"I am enjoying this campaign, because I am setting the record straight... so ask me whatever you want," he says during an hour-long interview. He has a lot of clarifications to make as he explains why he had no choice but to quit the Labour Government, and more importantly why he believes he is the right man to succeed Dr Sant.
Dr Abela tested the waters for the past few weeks before making it official that he is contesting the top Labour job.
"I never had a doubt of the wide support I enjoyed. But internally I've always felt I was participating in an obstacle race. Internal hurdles have been erected in my way ever since I expressed an interest in the post," he says.
Such obstacles, he believes, are morphed through the misinformation perpetrated by the party 'machinery' claiming that he had abandoned the party. He cites in particular party general secretary Jason Micallef's 'hostile' comments on the discussion programme Xarabank.
"They tried to raise the issue whether I was eligible to contest the post of leader. They also came up with the (temporary) media ban, when the other contenders had already expressed themselves. To this day I don't know why that ban was imposed and why it was removed. Doesn't this prove that obstacles have been placed in my path by those who aren't too happy with my candidature? Let's remember that I don't form part of the party and I'm starting from the back.
"People out there are clamouring for change and yet some party officials are determined to retain the status quo. Unless our party wants to face change, we risk another electoral defeat."
Dr Abela says it appears that Joseph Muscat is already being given a helping hand to be the next anointed leader, though he makes it clear that it is probably not the MEP who was steering the strategy.
"Maybe people believe that the 'internal contest' can be easily won with Joseph as the leader... they are interpreting a vote for Joseph as a vote to retain the status quo."
Does he suspect Dr Sant is pulling the strings?
"I cannot confirm that, but all I can say is that it's the people who support Dr Sant who are behind this," is his immediate reply.
Despite the alleged backstage ploys, Dr Abela believes things are changing and "whoever's in charge" is feeling the people's pulse. The party cannot continue to operate as a fortress, but should open its doors to everybody. That is Dr Abela's campaign call.
For the past few weeks he has been meeting supporters, delegates and volunteers. He will be holding a meeting for residents in the second, third and fourth districts today, but insists that this is in no way a throwback to the campaigning methods of the 1980s. In fact, he is holding the meeting at the Regatta Club in Cospicua to steer away from the political clubs.
"We shouldn't just resort to our supporters when we need their cash - we should always remain in touch with them."
He maintains that the MLP's central administration has for years feared the thought of people expressing themselves, and it is time for this to change.
"They don't even want people to talk to me in public, as evidenced by the Freedom Day celebrations at Vittoriosa. Isn't it ironic that people, including top party officials, are now starting to express themselves? Why didn't they speak up when things could be rectified? Why did certain officials have to wait for five years to accept that the EU referendum was won by the 'yes' vote, when the result was so clear? Why did we gather people in the streets to claim that the 'partnership' option had won? Why did we keep insisting that the EU wasn't good for the country? Where were the Labour exponents to stop all this? No wonder people nowadays tell me that I didn't take them for a ride. Time proved me right."
Dr Abela says he has no regrets about some of the decisions he has taken in his political career, even if they were highly contentious at the time. He decided to step down less than two years after the MLP had managed to turn a 13,000 deficit in the 1992 election into a majority of 8,000 by 1996.
"I never said we shouldn't go for an early election, I just said that it wasn't the right time to go for it," he says, recalling, among others, the hefty electricity tariffs his party had just introduced. Dom Mintoff's antics might have been holding the party hostage at the time, but Dr Abela says the issue was mishandled.
"There was so much justified criticism at the time. There was also the issue of injustices suffered by the Labourites... I knew we were going to lose the election, but instead, during that election campaign we heard we would win by a larger majority."
The decision to go for an early election was meant to be taken during that June conference, but the decision was postponed after he received a standing ovation, says Dr Abela, until the delegates were put under pressure.
He strongly denies claims that he had supported the 1998 election at administration level.
More importantly, however, he has a lot to say about the stark reality Labour found itself in when it assumed power in 1996 on the electoral ticket of eliminating VAT and freezing EU membership.
"The biggest lesson I've learnt is that there are no hard and fast rules in politics, if you really believe it's for the benefit of the country. We had to shift from that (EU) position, irrespective of whether we won the election on that ticket.
He reveals that before he quit the Government, then Prime Minister Alfred Sant had drawn up a position paper to start discussions with the Nationalist Party in a bid to lead to 'convergence' about EU membership.
Internal discussions involving Dr Abela, Lino Spiteri, John Attard Montalto and Dr Sant himself were held to map out the way forward on the EU. Former Education Minister Evarist Bartolo had also written a newspaper article entitled 'Conver-gence' precisely on this issue, which seems to have passed by unnoticed.
"Once we were in Government we carried out a stocktake of the country and wanted to revive economic activity, amid the disastrous state of public finances. We held internal discussions and believed it was high time to remove the EU freeze. I'll never forget that.
"You only realise the real situation when you assume the seat of Government. Even psychologically, we needed to create something new to push the economic wheel forward. We couldn't freeze our relations on a central issue like foreign policy, even with the Nationalist Party. You have to be proud and arrogant if you continue saying 'no', even if the good of the country dictates otherwise."
But the trouble over the water and electricity tariffs, the Mintoff episode and the controversial Cottonera project put the EU issue on the backburner. The rest is history - Labour lost the 1998 election and then embarked on a staunch anti-EU membership campaign, before losing the subsequent referendum and 2003 election. For Dr Abela, Labour's decision to continue objecting to EU membership remains inexplicable.
In stark contrast to his party's position, Dr Abela formed part of the core group of the Malta-EU Steering Action Committee, after completing a course in EU law.
"That's where I realised it was in the interest of our country that the next historical step for Malta was EU membership. I made a contribution to ensure Malta hammered out the best possible package from the EU. I was sorry to see the Labour Party abdicating its responsibility and refusing to contribute to the negotiations."
He narrates another incident dating back to Labour's years in power. He was present for a meeting with three officials from the European Commission, who turned up to contest the hotchpotch of taxes that the Government had introduced to replace VAT.
"We were told that our taxes were discriminating against EU member states and that even if the Commission respected the Maltese Government's sovereignty, it was planning to start imposing the same treatment on our exports. I will never forget that. And that's when my red alert went on... In reality, and with hindsight, what we should have done is to refine VAT, not eliminate it.
"The new tax system caused problems right away. The idea that we can create systems in isolation simply doesn't work."
He insists that it is important for politicians to take the right strategic decisions and assume responsibility for mistakes, whether it's an early election, EU membership, or euro adoption.
So why did he choose to refrain from airing his grievances for the past decade?
"I've always believed that I never had a chance to infiltrate the party while Dr Sant was leader. I worked closely with him... history is the best witness. The best opportunity for me was when Dr Sant decided not to re-contest."
Though he will turn 60 later this month, Dr Abela strongly believes the time is ripe to make a comeback. If elected, he is determined to reform the party, eliminate the factions and bring about unity. The next party leader has to be an inclusive one - and that, he believes, is one of his fortes.
The former deputy leader says he is determined to get everybody on board even if the current general secretary effectively sealed his fate once he made it clear he is uncomfortable with Dr Abela.
He says there are a number of factors why Labour succumbed to a third successive election defeat last month, but he singles out his party's lack of credibility and its failure to provide peace of mind.
Furthermore, towards the end of the electoral campaign, the MLP instilled a sense of fear and the feeling that there would not be any continuity in people's lifestyle. One of the biggest problems of the Labour Party in the last few years is its antagonism towards the press.
"I will never advocate censorship. We should go on the media that affects society the most. We need to make our position clear."
One of Dr Abela's most contentious comments to date is that he ranks the General Workers' Union before the Labour Party. He stands by the comment and refuses claims that he is getting his priorities upside down.
"By the GWU, I was referring to the workers in a symbolic manner... This is not about the GWU, the UĦM or the CMTU. Remember, I can't erase my past trade union links. Yes, the worker comes before the party. The party is there to serve the worker and not the other way round. The word 'workers' also refers to the self-employed."
He dismisses claims that his statement might instil fear of another MLP Government - GWU bond, especially since he was, after all, instrumental in eliminating this statutory bond during the meetings with former Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.
His voice oozes disappointment when speaking about the union he had to quit after 26 years of service. He says he had no choice.
The union had chosen to analyse the impact of EU membership by commissioning impact assessment reports for different sectors. It also had established that the issue of EU membership should be decided via a referendum. But ultimately, the GWU mirrored the Labour Party and refused to issue the reports and ignore the referendum result.
Dr Abela decided to sever all links with the GWU when the administration urged him to sign a declaration to abide by its directives.
"My professional ethics dictate that I could not remain in my post simply to have a cosy seat.
It's always easier to criticise months, or even years later. You have to prove your mettle in the hour of truth. It wasn't easy quitting the union, like it wasn't easy to leave my job as deputy leader when my party was in power."
Looking ahead, Dr Abela says the two parties should gather around the table and discuss issues like the choice of Speaker, President and the pairing issue.
"In politics you have to give and take. It is not a matter of appointing an individual from the Labour camp to assume the role of President to reflect the close election result - the next President should be a symbol of national unity," he says.
Though he acknowledges that his age could prove to be a handicap in a contest where the youngest contender is 34 years old, Dr Abela is banking on experience.
"These years have provided me with different experiences and opportunities. I've seen the glorious years of politics, and the subsequent challenges."
He believes he is a strong contender in the race and says that every day is helping him to make inroads into a party where he has been alienated.
Asked why delegates should vote for George Abela, the lawyer smiles, and after a brief pause, says: "I'm different to the others."