Coleiro-Preca would seek re-approval in four years' time

Labour Party leadership contender Marie Louis Coleiro-Preca rounded up her campaign yesterday promising that, if elected leader, she would submit herself to the decision of delegates in four years' time on whether to endorse her or remove her for not having kept her promises.

Ms Coleiro-Preca said that no leader of a modern party should be at the helm forever. "We should hang on to values and substance and not just faces," she said.

She advised delegates to choose wisely and freely. Mrs Coleiro-Preca promised that, if elected leader, she would give the party's local committees a strong political profile so that they would be the party's leaders in localities, working closely to the people. She wanted to restore the serenity, tranquillity and unity that she had once experienced within the MLP. She wanted the party to put its social democratic values first, values which it had been set up for and which it still professed.

The party had to reacquire its distinct identity and realise that its sole aim was to evolve these values. One's personal ambitions and agendas could not come ahead of the party's collective agenda, she insisted.

Mrs Coleiro-Preca, the party's first female candidate for leader, said that her campaign reflected how she wanted to continue working within the party, talking and discussing to constantly keep herself up to date with the people and be their voice, while being constantly in line with the party's values and principles.

She promised that, as leader, she would immediately start working to renew and reform the MLP to make it a strong, modern party ready to win the next election, even if this came early.

She had analysed the party's defeat report which clearly showed that the party had not been taking the people's perceptions into consideration. "We have to bond with people," she insisted.

Another finding of the report was that the party's message had failed to get through. The party's media, she said, had to be used to better effect and the MLP should use all technological means to spread its message. It had also to be media friendly, its policies had to be well researched and understood and it had to be a credible and courageous party.

Another issue that needed to be tackled was coordination between party structures. The MLP was a social democratic party and its members had to be like a family, loyal and respectful of its values.

She pointed out that she had formed part of the party for 34 years, through thick and thin, and her loyalty had never wavered. "I want to give this party a mother's love."

The country, she warned, will be facing some difficult times partly due to the rise in prices. This required a gutsy, courageous government that could take practical action. The situation had become such that middle-income earners were also finding it difficult to cope.

Asked whether she would be contesting the deputy leadership election should she fail to be elected leader, Mrs Coleiro-Preca would not commit herself, saying "Let's wait till Thursday. I will take that decision in due course."