Labour's prodigal son

George Abela formally announced his intention to contest Labour's leadership election on April 22, the day he turned 60.

Although at the time he was not officially involved in the Labour Party, he had served as its deputy leader for party affairs between 1992 and 1998, when he resigned because he did not agree that the party should go for an early election.

During the 1996-1998 Labour government he was a consultant to Prime Minister Alfred Sant and used to attend Cabinet meetings. Some time before he stepped down as deputy leader, however, he had also resigned as Dr Sant's consultant.

He attempted to get back into the party by offering to contest the European Parliament elections in 2004 on behalf of the MLP but his request was turned down.

Dr Abela said he had always been in favour of EU membership and that he worked for this to become reality. The MLP had always been against membership and only accepted the people's choice for membership after their 2003 electoral verdict, which had followed a yes vote in a referendum - a vote that was not acknowledged by Labour.

Dr Abela's name was one of the first that started to be mentioned as soon as it was announced that a new party leader was to be elected. He managed to convince a good number of delegates who were sceptical that he was the right man for the job since many had been convinced that he had abandoned the party at a time of great need.

Yesterday he gained 22.88 per cent of the 874 votes cast by the delegates. There were five invalid votes.

Dr Abela, a lawyer from Qormi, is also well known in the spheres of industrial relations and sports.

He was for many years the General Workers' Union's legal adviser until he decided to sever all links with the union when the administration urged him to sign a declaration to abide by its directives. He had been serving that union for 26 years.

In sport, Dr Abela served as president of the Malta Football Association for 10 years from 1982.

During his term, Malta's national team footballers started training on a professional basis for the first time. A major investment was made in the ground's infrastructure with a gym and a physiotherapy clinic being opened. Artificial lights were installed and smaller grounds for training were built.

Dr Abela is married to Margaret née Cauchi and they have two children, Robert and Maria.