Full throttle to the past

The election of a leader has never been a smooth affair for the Labour Party. In 1947 Dom Mintoff ousted Paul Boffa, creating a split within the party.

Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici was hand-picked by Mr Mintoff to take his place, thus avoiding an election for leader to the dismay of a number of would-be contenders. The choice of Alfred Sant in 1992 was preceded by the infamous letter bearing the initials MC. It later transpired, according to Paul Cauchi, that some 100 "extra" votes were cast in Dr Sant's box. This time serious doubts have been cast on the fairness of the election of Joseph Muscat; George Abela, Evarist Bartolo and Michael Falzon have all stated categorically that the party machine worked in favour of Dr Muscat, using strong words to make their point. This means that the present leader may not enjoy the full support of all those surrounding him, including at least two MPs.

The choice of Dr Muscat as leader was the first indication that the delegates preferred - or were pushed to vote for - the most vociferous and staunch eurosceptic, second only to Dr Sant. Others had a more experienced background and had a positive attitude towards Malta joining the EU.

One may argue that Dr Muscat is now a converted eurosceptic, so much so that he was elected an MEP. It is very difficult to fathom how a person so vociferous and staunch in his belief against joining a union of nations can change his mind overnight and become a front liner for that same union. I am one of those who strongly believe the Maltese saying that "if the pig loses its tail, it will remain a pig".

So far Dr Muscat has demonstrated that he is following his predecessor's example and taking haphazard decisions. His most recent is his insistence that the government offers employment to the shipyard workers with the public company IPSL. It is evident that he forgot that his party was totally against the setting up of this company in 2003 as it would drain money from taxpayers. And now the new leader is claiming that IPSL is a success story!

Dr Muscat's forte up to now has been his sweet talk: "I love you - you love me, but love her also because she loves you"! He has promised that his leadership will cause an earthquake in the Labour Party, but so far there are no signs of it. Ironically, it is the delegates who have succeeded in causing a tremor which has already affected Dr Muscat's performance as leader and will continue to do so.

It has now been revealed that Dr Muscat intends to create a new post of CEO for the party, possibly rendering the general secretary a part-timer. While I would have preferred the delegates to have elected someone else as general secretary rather than Mr Micallef, unless Dr Muscat's intention was on the table before the election for the post, and was known to all contenders, I have my doubts whether it can be legally accepted. In any case it would be unfair and undemocratic to implement it now.

Also, since this move will require a change to the party's statute, it will have to be approved by the party conference. This would probably turn out to be another victory for Mr Micallef, because apart from the 370 votes he obtained, he could easily garner another 100 odd votes in his favour, either in sympathy for him or from those who do not agree in principle to such a change.