Tuesday, 22nd April 2008 - 11:08CET
UPDATED: George Abela sets out his vision for the MLP
Petition for voting by members to be presented this week
(Adds Dr Abela's replies to questions)
Labour leadership contender George
Abela, 60 today, laid out his vision for the party at a press conference this morning,
insisting that the party should focus on the individual and become the natural
choice for the people. He also announced that a petition for paid-up members to be able to vote in the leadership election will be presented to the party this week.
He told a press conference at the Hilton that the MLP should be a participant in EU-related bodies out of conviction.
The MLP should be a party which attracted both young and old, a party which attacked arguments, not individuals, a party which was based on firm values which included the traditional family.
This should also be a party which protected the minorities and encouraged voluntary work for society.
Dr Abela said the party should be reorganised to make its structures more efficient, for the benefit of all those who believed in the party, not just the members. The starting point should be an independent audit to establish the current state of affairs.
The party media’s role should be to inform, educate, and entertain and it should also reflect truth, quality, decency and individual dignity even in the case of those who opposed the party.
The party itself should have good relations with all the media.
Dr Abela said that as a leader, he was promising to keep closer contact with the party’s roots.
He said the MLP should continue to work for free quality education for all, and ensure that high standards were observed in state, Church and private schools. Malta, he said, should seek to achieve the Lisbon Strategy benchmarks as soon as possible.
Likewise, the party needed to continue to lay stress on free, quality health case while also cooperating with private healthcare providers. Environmental protection also had to be one of its priorities, with close relations with NGOs.
Turning to the economy and public administration, Dr Abela said Labour should encourage private productive investment by creating the right climate, with the least possible bureaucracy and without the state competing with private enterprise.
There had to be a proper balance between direct and indirect taxation, and taxation must be such as not to be seen as a barrier to private initiative.
The MLP should also promote clean, transparent and efficient public administration to ensure that taxpayers’ money was well spent, not least on social services, Dr Abela said.
Replying to questions, Dr Abela said that the fact that he was not a Member of Parliament was not an obstacle to his leadership bid. Indeed, even if he was elected leader, he would prefer having a period during which he could concentrate on the party before becoming an MP, something which was possible through co-option.
His aim, Dr Abela said, was to win the election. “The Labour Party simply cannot afford to lose another general election,” he said.
Dr Abela denied that minutes of the party’s executive meetings in 1998 showed that he had been in favour of an early election, but then changed his mind. What those minutes showed, he said, was that he backed the presentation of a motion asking the delegates at the general conference whether the party should seek an early election. He was never in favour of going to the polls early.
Dr Abela said he viewed his candidacy for the leadership as a new beginning and he hoped it would lead to a new way how the MLP conducted politics. Certainly, the MLP could no longer labour under a siege mentality. He was all for consensus politics, as far as possible. Confrontational politics was not helpful to the people.
Dr Abela said a petition calling on the general conference to allow voting in the leadership contest by the paid up members would be presented to the party this week. He would then submit to the will of the delegates.
He said the leadership contest had started on the wrong foot, with a party official having publicly come out against a candidate (a reference to general secretary Jason Micallef’s comments about him).
Should he not be elected leader, Dr Abela said he would still be prepared to serve the party, but he would not seek election for the post of deputy leader.
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Comments
' It's a mentality that is typical of those who think that the MLP belongs to a specific group of people, and that such people are entitled to reward or punish candidates.' you said
Didn`t you once belong to a specific group? il- Mintoffjani!!! Didn`t you punish the people in the previous administration of the party?
And by the way, would you please clarify why the PBS chose to undermine Joseph Muscat and boost george abela? Your name has been mentioned in this story! Maybe we could wonder why you got involved in this shameful act!
No hard feelings - Alfred Mifsud might be intelligent but has no charisma! Sorry to say this!
Gonzi is a charismatic person who manages to interact and attract youths like me, who have no affiliation to any party. Dr Abela needs to copy Gonzi if he ever wants to be as successful as him rather than relying on what Alfred Mifsud has to tell him. However, being 60 yrs old (and I congratulate him on his birthday) should consider retiring rather running for this leadership race! I find it difficult to believe that youths like me, would ever go for George rather than Gonzi (who is not much younger but he`s more interactive for sure).
Youths, like me, are FED up with the same rhetorics of politicians! We need someone who`s charismatic, progressive and open to interact with us! Labour should think seriously rather than listening to such Labour supporters (in this blog) who might have nothing else to do rather than fighting each other and portraying a bad image of the party
I only speak for myself and have no authority to speak obo others. The fact that I think that George Abela would be the best choice for Labour leader does not mean I am his spokeman. He in fact needs no spokesman.
Furthermore I am not contesting for any positon so I am not seeking anyone's vote.
However as a person who was forced to resign purely becasue I warned that re-election of Sant following the 2003 election defeat had the seeds for the next loss in 2008 I find the ciritism that I abondoned the party or that I was disloyal to the party offending, Just that simple.
If the Labour in choosing its next leader makes its choice on perceived loyalty or disloyalty rather on the best person who can best win over the floating voters than so be it! But than if in 2013 somebody says I told you so no one should be offended.
Seems he is stuck in 1998.... and there he should remain.
It is too easy now to claim victory on the defeated when you didn't even participate!!
Thanks but loyalty and trust aren’t sold for cheap.
If ´Loyalty should be to the organisational not to individuals`, then we should not follow your example!!!!!
Now people will judge themselves who´s right.. whether its me or you!!!!
Some of you claim that you had remained active in the party. Where were you in the past ten years when the Party celebrated Freedom Day? Did George Abela ever poke his nose in there in the last years? No, he did so this year for his own selfish and opportunistic reasons.
One final point. George Abela said that he wants a “Democratic Social” party rather than a Social Democratic party. Does he mean that if he is elected to the leadership he will change the spirit and the soul of the Labour Party whose statutory foundations are the socialist democratic principles? I wait for your answer with bated breath Mr Mifsud.
Evidently, Messrs Abela and Mifsud failed in trying to convince people around to their way of thinking. They failed to make the required support materialise. They failed from the inside. They failed from the outside.
Will they succeed this time round? Who knows? It is so very easy to exclaim "I told you so!". However, it is hardly any more convincing and has no real value in meaningful debate.
One favourite 'I-told-you-so' that was bandied about was the snap election of 1998. Of course it was to be expected that the MLP would lose! It doesn't take a genius to have foreseen that result. However, can anyone seriously envisage the alternative: a situation where a Government hangs on and continues to function when it is continually at the mercy and the whim of a maverick - who, in my opinion, should never have been allowed to contest the election in the first place! So, should I too say "I told you so"? I do not agree with having 'backseat drivers' in a car, let alone a Government; but, who am I to say "I told you so"? That is what the majority decided at that time; that, too, is democracy.
So whose example should you follow in order to be loyal to the organisation? The example of those who in full knowledge that through their staying on they were denying Labour of the credibility necessary to win the election but preferred their personal interest to that of the organisation and in the process delivered the third successive defeat which no doubt broke the heart of loyal supporters like you?
Or the example of those who not to prejudice their position silently accepted the process leading to the election defeat and only now are telling us how much they were disagreeing with what was happening?
you said - Shhhh! Louis Fenech has spoken. Assertively! Pontificatingly!. All the rest should shut up.
I expect to have more mature answers to my open questions from such an intelligent person like you!
Nonetheless, I`m seeing my answers from the delegates of the party instead:) So I really don`t care what you say here! And I`m getting my answers right! So have a nice day Alfred!
sorry to say, but you`re not convincing. I like George Abela but if he`s being pushed by persons like you, then I come to believe to the theory of `the enemy of my enemy is my friend`.
It is evident that you don`t like Alfred Sant ( and it`s not that he`s my idol) and has engaged yourself in supporting george abela, who happened to be an `outcast` like you as well!
I used to think that you are more mature than that! If george abela is willing to be surrounded with people like you, I doubt if labour will ever be attractive to youths like me.
And dear Alfred Mifsud, if ´Loyalty should be to the organisational not to individuals`, thn we should not follow your example!!!!!
2) aren't you hurt by the false expectations of 2 elec. victories?
3) aren't you hurt by those who told you they're ready for the election and weren't?
4) Aren't you hurt by the fact that you were "tricked" into re-electing Sant again in 2003 when you knew that with him at the helm you had no chance?
.............................................why are some of you so afraid of people like Abela and Mifsud and Dom Fenech?? becuase they've been proven right????
So who was loyal to the organisation? Alfred Sant who in spite of knowing that his leadership deprived Labour's EU policies post 2003 election of the necessary credibility thus leading to another election defeat in 2008. Or yours truly who warned about it , firstly inside and then when all doors of internal criticism were shut locked and bolted, I criticised externally trying to save the party from the inevitable, only to finish disciplined and muzzled by the Bord tal-Vigilanza forcing me to resign.
Incidentally the Board tal_Vigilanza was originally set up to guard against abuse of power by incumbents not to discipline critics of such abuse.
Give me one - just one - instance of someone within the MLP during the last 25 years who managed to make even one iota of difference to the party's blindingly headlong scramble to total perdition. Are the party insiders - who are now speaking openly about what they hold as past grave political mistakes that kept the MLP in opposition - more loyal to the disenchanted and disappointed grassroots than George Abela who came out clean and straight from the very beginning?
if anyone should speak about loyalty towards the organisation (i.e. the party), it should definately not be you!!!!!!
How does this equate with resigning from the organisation? Surely the place to 'improve' an organisation is from the inside, garnering more support as one goes along, rather than from the outside; assuming, of course, that one is truly 'loyal' to one's declared principles.
For David Gatt loyalty means seeing the party lose one election after another rather than trying to have it change course even by the personal sacrifice of resignation. Believe it is much easier to stay on to guard your seat and be submissive rather than to stand your ground and through personal sacrifice try to save the organsiation. Loyalty should be to the organisational not to individuals!
If you are truly a laborite how can you ask if Dr Abela is a laborite simply because he was a personal consultant with Dr.Fenech Adami? You'll be saying that lawyers are criminals themselves since they defend criminals! The MLP should be thankful that he decided to contest this election; this shows that even the PN found him a trustworthy person with integrity.
@D Camilleri
I would like to tell you something that you probably don't know about Dr Abela: He has been working with youths for as long as I can remember - such as the Kerygma Volleyball Marathon - he was the Chairperson of the National Campaign of Solidarity Through Sports.
http://www.maltairport.com/printpage.asp?n=newsdetails&i=2517
Arnold Glasgow
No amount of study or learning will make a leader unless he has the natural qualities of one.
Archibald Wavell
To win an election we need someone who is able to increase our share of votes. This could be done by attracting more floaters to our side. People like George could do this since he is the only one from the five contenders that was not involved in the past decade's decisions who lead to three consecutive defeats.
Regarding one pf the comments questioning Abela's opinion and if he is a Labourite or not please show a bit of maturity. Rest assured that if George Abela presented himself as a PN candidate they would accept him because he is good. We should thank Abela for giving us this opportunity . Whoever will vote on June 5th have the responsibility to make the right choice this time round. Past decisions have all proved wrong so please you have to prove yourselves now. I hope people like George Camilleri who blogged to this article isn't a delegate. With people like him we will continue to achieve the 48.8% but still lose. We have to open up and if the delegates and/or the members vote with their mind and not as they are told we have the chance to have George Abela to lead our ship and next election will be in our favour.
We citizens of Malta, of whatever political view, want to hear their views and beliefs.
It would have been very wrong to ban them from communicating with the media.
One can realize that they are all valuable in their own respect since they all have experience in different sectors of society. - Industrial relations,Trade unions, Family affairs, EU ,Education,Foreign affairs and so on.
No one should be put aside by who discriminates in favour of any particular contestant.
A level playing field for all should be monitored all the way up to election day by the MLP board of vigilance and discipline for this election should be seen and felt as being fair.
In his meetings with the local committee delegates, george abela is playing the victim! he`s choosing not to answer to the same questions I put here in this blog! And he´s also getting furious at times when particular direct questions are put to him, such as how he voted in 2003!! He has no answer to these questions! But I wonder why! Some delegates chose not to meet him at all, other decided to listen to what he has to say! But the wounds are too deep and he´s not impressing too much!
George Abela`s only hope is if he manages to convince the delegates to approve `his` motion to let members vote also! But this won`t be easy george abela! first of all, this has never been the practice of our party (and neither of the PN) and second, he returned from a long 10 -year holiday and pretends to change the statute as it suits him! No way! Any changes in the statute of the party requires a serious debate, aimed at the benefit of the party itself and not to suit george abela!
george abela is not yet elected as party leader , and hopefully will never be...and yet, so many people out there is the street resent him already. He´s totally aware about this but the man is such a big opportunist. He chooses to ignore this fact for a while,believing that he would be able to make a miracle and attract these people back. Incredible!!!
So George, if you want to unite us together, be more credible, don`t avoid direct question, and if necessary, apologise for what you did in 1998. Stop firing your guns at the other candidates in the race and if you really mean to remove all factions from the party, don`t create one of your own (like some individuals who lost their credibility by their actions against the party) Then maybe we might forgive you and follow you!!!
Is a true Labourer going to do this????????
(1) he decided to quit and he did not have the guts to fight for what he believed in and contest Alfred Sant in 2003. George Abela did not believe in himself. Now his moment has passed, and worse of all he is still living in the past. Todays youngsters and I believe most people at large do not care what happened in 1996 or 1997, or who voted on this or that motion. For gods sake this is the year 2008. Wake up. The labour party does not need a stong leader of the opposition. We want a Labour Prim Minister in the year 2013 , maybe befor. So please 1996 or 1997 is just irrelevant. We need a leader firmly anchored in the EU, with the courage to stand up for what he believes in . A leader who has no problem expressing himself because his words reflect a vision for Malta over the next 15 years. A future Labour Prim Minister will look beyond the needs of the labour Party and tackmle issues which concern us as a whole. For me this person is Joseph Muscat and that is why the Nazz or so keen are tearing him down.
I am sorry but George Abela is full of contradictions. First he says the GWU comes before the Labour Party. i have voted labour and I do not want a leader who clearly has got his priorities wrong.
Besides when I see George Abela I am seeing the best friend of Lawrence Gonzi because that is how George Abela presented himself on Net TV in a interview with Gloria Mizzi and Lawrence Gonzi.
Becasue anyone who dared criticise the way things were being done amd warning that such things could lead to another election defeat was kicked out of the party as they did to me in 2003. That's why! And no Louis Fenech spoke up to protest that the party has to be tolerant of internal criticism.
Louis, Dr Abela did the right thing so not to divide our party in two. If Alfred Sant heard or Abela today we are not in this state. he never took any holidays, he just resigned from the party for that reason. Dr sant was not the man that give chances to other thinkings, so i am glad george did such a thing
leader of the MLP, I am democrat enough to accept that decision and will defend him from inevitable future attacks from the other side of the fence including the soi-disant independent media and notorious writers.
Iwill not condemn certain mistakes and then commit them myself. I think this ought to be the conduct of genuine Labourites, unless the social principles of the Party are transgressed to favour the other side, the conservative, capitalists and antiworkers' side.
A helping hand from certain people at the last elections would have probably changed the fortunes of the political parties. But it was not forthcoming. It would have served to retain Dr.A Sant as leader and that was an obstacle for certain people.
Remember even the fact that Dr.A Sant was to turn 60 was thrown in the fray.
Some one remembers that in 1998 to the “phrase” “I stop here” was added “for the time being”. This was reported in the TOM of last Sunday by Mr. Lino Spiteri. I never heard the addendum. I would like to know whether there are others who remember, it will help to clarify my opinion about the event.
Joseph Camilleri and Louis Fenech - If you think that many labour supporters resent him already why are you proposing to eliminate George Abela from the race?
No, the MLP cannot afford to loose Dr Abela again, he has all it takes to reunite the MLP and work TOGETHER with all laborites and other people who are fed up with the arrogance of Gonzipn, so that the MLP wins the 2013 election.
However, all rational thinkers honestly wish that the political scene in this country allows for a credible, coherent and electable opposition party.
Your demonising of George Abela is ensuring just the opposite.
Oh and by the way (as pointed out by someone else earlier) the Labour party today encompasses within its ranks an elected member who, during the last election was pro EU. Why haven't you picked on her too ???????
We bestowed our trust in you as party deputy leader in 1992, so you have a lot of convincing to do to before trust you again. The analysis why labour lost this election is not exactly how you are describing events.
The power of incumbency alone was not our playground Dr Abela.
I have my own concerns about Dr. Abela's candidature but your line of thinking is far from reality. I fail to understand how you can even consider speaking like that - 'tal-kisser u farrak'. The MLP is not and should never fall to such low depths of ousting people from this or that post. Let us discuss and share ideas appropriately, sir, and if you disagree with what others have to say then simply agree to disagree, not to throw a fit and portray such comical stupidity.
Keep it up MLP
The comments passed about Dr. Abela and his input in the party during the past 10 years are comparable to those comments passed by Nationalist party supporters when they compare the labour party of today with the labour party of say 30 years ago. I personally hate it when it happens since you cannot stay living in the past.
As to Mr. Kevin Caruana’s comments….. I agree with you on one point, namely, the fact that Dr. Abela’s age is a bit of a problem for the party’s future….. but as to the rest of your comments I think the only eligible being for the criteria you mentioned is GOD himself.
"Lack of self critical debate and fear of change at party level are a sure way of turning any party into a brick. Surely that is not good for anyone and our system of democracy."
Let me say that I agree completely.
However I am one to delve deeper. It has been stated time and again that for a Democracy to be healthy there must be a viable alternative and a selection of different ideas for one to choose from. In the last election, sadly, there was not such a difference in ideologies between the 2 major parties. They both offered tax cuts, they both promised free health care, they both threw mud at each other like there was no tomorrow. The end result was that Dr. Gonzi's personality and charisma squarely won over that of Dr. Sant.
Neither is it healthy for a country to have two political extremes because a certain common purpose for the overall national interest is fundamental. But the questions that come to mind are these and I believe they are very important for us to consider and let us please not succumb to partisan and tribal conflicts between one another. How is Dr. George Abela different from Dr. Lawrence Gonzi? Is this why the MLP should choose Dr. Abela as its leader because he has more or the less same ideology and charisma? Will the MLP therefore, by this line of thinking, win in 2013 just for the heck of it and simply to say "see how democratic we are, we gave the reds a chance..." To have a true and realistic alternative you need someone who, yes, needs to implement some radical changes in the MLP camp; to modernise it; to change its archaic and ultra-negative line of thinking. But you also need a break from tradition. You need a person that offers something that is truly different but necessary for this country to progress. You need someone that is willing to discuss certain issues that at first glance may seem a little controversial in this country but which are necessary and serious discussions for us to move forward. We need to provide this country with a choice of ideologies. We need a party of progressives and moderates, an ambitious project but one that can be done.
In all honesty I admire Dr. Abela's wits however I believe, especially on the light of what he said today, that he does not provide the answers Labour needs. Apart from that I still have serious trust issues with Dr. Abela and he still has not convinced me, rather, made matters worse that he has changed. The Labour Party should be inclusive and has its doors open to George Abela but not as its Leader.
I doubt whether he will be able to unite our party!!! it is so evident that many labour supporters resent him already!
and by the way, (dear joseph camilleri) I share your same concerns! I´m waiting for a direct answer from george abela rather than from any of his ´puppets´ on how he voted in 2003 to see Malta joining the EU!!!! If he chooses not to reply, I will make my utmost to find the right occasion to ask him personally in public!
If necessary, all other candidates in the race should find a way how to unite and eliminate george abela from the race!
MPs and party officials have a duty to question and challenge the party ticket. Lack of self critical debate and fear of change at party level are a sure way of turning any party into a brick. Surely that is not good for anyone and our system of democracy.
George Abela did not, or preferred not to answer one more question!!
If he had always been so-pro EU, even though he was elected on a different ticket in 1996, I assume that he voted PN in the 2003 election!
Will you make this clear for us? We need to know if you had always been loyal to the party or not!!!
And nevertheless, he has one shortcoming that overshadows all his good qualities: The man lacks substance. His press conference today confirmed that he has no worldview and no overall picture of reality. He has no structural principles. He has no core, no vision. In the most profound sense, he does not know where he is going. That is why today he can say the opposite of what he said yesterday, without batting an eyelash.
Nor does he have any difficulty saying one thing and doing another. He is capable of changing his skin and changing his policy like a chameleon.
This morning he insisted that the party should focus on the individual. Is he not aware that a fundamental modern social democrat value for this age and time is the power of community, solidarity, the collective ability to further the individual’s interests?
He turned 60 years old today and that is a big minus for him as well. A party elects a leader for a minimum of 10 to 15 years. The Labour Party does not afford to change Leader once again in the coming 10 years.
He stated that the MLP should be a party which attracted both young and old. But hold on. That should come out naturally. I never saw Abela mingling with young people and truth is that during his first public meeting some days ago, young people were not present.
During the Press conference he was flip flopping continuously from party vision to country vision and to party vision again. I am sure that many readers, like me have asked the same question over and over again: Where is the beef Dr. Abela? He said he will spend some time concentrating on the party before becoming an MP. Meanwhile we will have Sant leading the Opposition!
The weirdest statement was when he reiterated that the Labour Party simply cannot afford to lose another general election. A modern statesman and a Prime Minister in waiting would have said “I didn't come into politics to change the Labour Party. I came into politics to change the country”.
This leadership contest is turning out to be a battle between the forces of progress and the forces of conservatism. As a party reborn, the Labour Party must make the coming decade a progressive one after several dominated by Conservatives.
It is of utmost importance that at this stage the MLP gets it right by choosing the only leadership contender that can turn this party into the proper organisation that will be prepared to offer a real challenge come 2013.
Does anyone care to remember the statements regarding how prepared the MLP was for the election whenever it comes. So prepared was the MLP that the only way was up....and it is true, the only way is up because the MLP is currently hitting the lowest levels possible in terms of credibility.
That is why in my considered opinion, Dr George Abela is the ONLY possibility for those who really believe in the future of the MLP and Malta in general.
Happy Birthday and Ad Multos Annos to Dr. Abela.
so why not have the same question put to ALL Labour MPs and delegates, and see who voted for the EU last time?? Do you realise you have a Labour MP who even stood for elections with the PN last time round because of the EU issue?
A bit of coherence in your arguments would be appreciated.
Here you have a political statement of the first order being made by one of probably the only two candidates who may manage to revive the Labour Party, (and by inference the local political scene) making it re electable and already the in party snipers are out for his head.
Whether he was pro EU or not in 1996 is immaterial at this stage. What is pertinent is the fact that he was man enough to stand up for his convictions and leave the party (without causing it any damage) rather than clinging on to his position within it, as so many others (including current contenders) have done and are still doing.
Reminds me of what is said to happen to horses' drinking propensities when you take them to water.
I urge the delegates of the MLP to take this man seriously, because the PN are so very afraid of him because they KNOW that he/the MLP stand a good chance of winning the election in 2013!
If he had always been so-pro EU, even though he was elected on a different ticket in 1996, I assume that he voted PN in the 2003 election!
Will you make this clear for us? We need to know if you had always been loyal to the party or not!!!