Editorial

Sweltering heat may still be making people gravitate towards the sea and its pleasures, but with the feast of Santa Marija over, many would be longing to return to the post-summer life. The festa season will soon come to an end, and as schools reopen and Parliament starts meeting again, life picks up the normal rhythm. Of the many subjects that will continue to occupy the national agenda, one that is expected to carry on sapping a great deal of mental energy is the privatisation of the shipyards. Mediation efforts are still going on in a bid to iron out differences with the workers' union.

The Labour Party has had a hectic summer as it set out to put its house in order following its third consecutive defeat in the March general election. The party now has a largely new team at the helm, excluding the general secretary who has been voted into the post again even though many felt he ought to have resigned after the election defeat. The top triumvirate, the leader and his two deputies, are not exactly those who many had wanted to see leading the party after such a long time in the political wilderness, but Joseph Muscat is managing to win the confidence of a growing number of people both within and outside his party.

Dr Muscat may not have the long political experience of others in politics, but he is sure taking the lead in the political discussion with the new proposals he is making. Divorce, relegated to the backburner for years, has been brought to the top of the political agenda, and his call for the voting age in local elections to be reduced to 16 has also stirred a great deal of interest. Free of the shackles that held the Alfred Sant-led party firmly to the ground, the new leader is marching on in his vision to build what he calls a movement of progressives and moderates, "a new alliance brought together by the will and energy to meet and surpass the environmental, economic and social aspirations of our society".

With his party having corrected its policy towards the European Union and hopefully lifting its blinkers once and for all in this regard, Dr Muscat no doubt feels he has no serious political obstacles in his way. As to the people's aspirations, politically speaking, the people have already met a very important aspiration, that of seeing their country become a member of the European Union. Membership has now put up new signposts for economic and social aspirations. Both economically and socially, the country had already made great advances before membership, but as the island integrates itself fully in the EU, it will be seen that there is as yet much ground to be covered for the country to reach European standards.

Labour under the new leader will come under greater scrutiny in the weeks and months to come as Malta continues to face new social and economic challenges. Dr Muscat's ideas and contribution will best be measured in Parliament, where he has yet to take up his role as leader of the Opposition.

It is in the House where he will have to show his mettle and prove that he is all for change in the way we do politics in this country. Time is on his side.