George Abela for real change

As one of those Labour supporters who felt they did not fit in our party for the last 10 years or so, for various reasons, I feel the time has come to stand up and be counted and instead break the silence we fell into for the so-called 'good of the party'. So here I am shouting loud and clear that the MLP has one man to choose for its next leader - George Abela.

We need a man who can push Labour to the centre of Malta's political spectrum and close the chapter of old-fashioned, unelectable and socialist politics.

All social democratic leaders across Europe who wanted to see their party in power did that, so why shouldn't we do the same?

Aren't we finished yet with one humiliation after another? Aren't we fed up of being called miskin (poor thing) because we vote Labour? Did we need to sink so low to wake up to the harsh reality that Labour was unelectable? Labour needs change, not in a cosmetic, musical chairs way, but a change in mentality, style and last but not least leadership.

We need a strong leader who can do whatever is necessary to rebuild the trust the party lost with the middle classes, floating voters and youth.

We need a leader who can carry out all the reforms Labour needs without considering whose toes he is going to tread on - and Dr Abela is that man.

He will get rid of the extremists that seem to be trapped in a time warp because he has no cliques, so he won't bat an eyelid if some head needs to roll, because no gain comes without pain.

Dr Abela is a man of vision and charisma who can match and even surpass Lawrence Gonzi. He will rid us of the siege mentality that has infected us for ages. He is no traitor, but a leader with the guts to say Labour was wrong to go for an early election in 1998, even though he risked his political career in doing so.

Others, who felt the same, thought otherwise and preferred to remain silent or worse applauded at the extraordinary general conference, which sealed Labour's fate for at least two generations.

The MLP delegates have to take a very important decision that can either restore the party to its former splendour or forever cast it in the role of opposition party.

They only need to ask themselves one question when voting for the new party leader: who can lead us to victory in the next election? They should not be afraid of change and choose Dr Abela.