Beyond the changes proposed to be made to the Labour Party's name and emblem, an extraordinary party general conference meeting this week is being called upon to decide on a number of interesting amendments to the party's statute. A party leader as young as Joseph Muscat, so different in outlook from his predecessors and so enthusiastic in his drive to bring about change in his party, was not expected to let grass grow under his feet. And true to form, he is piloting a reform that could, if approved, lead to a much needed renewal of the party.
Having apologised for his party's past wrongs when he gave his maiden speech in Parliament as Leader of the Opposition, he now seems determined to give the party a force that would hopefully extract it out of its election defeat mode and finally lead it to power again. However, Dr Muscat must surely know that he needs time to make the party electable again but with a general election still so far away, time is well on his side.
When, some time ago, a prominent Labour analyst wondered again how Labour had managed to lose the March election, he was reflecting the feelings of most Labour supporters who felt the party had taken the electorate for granted when it believed that, following the long time the Nationalist Party had been in power, victory was theirs for the taking. It is most unlikely that Dr Muscat will fall into the same trap. He knows that times have changed and that it will now be his task to rehabilitate the party to an extent that by the time of the next general election, the electorate would want to try it out, as it had done with Alfred Sant in the 1996 general election.
To kick off the exercise, the party has set out to reorganise its structure and is also clearly going all out to draw young people to its fold. For years, many young people did not find Labour attractive enough for them to vote for it.
One reason might have been its image of not being forward-looking enough, as was clearly the case with its strong opposition to Malta joining the European Union. Such feeling was shared by many Labour supporters and, of course, by the Nationalists and uncommitted voters. This is a heavy political baggage for the party to carry but Dr Muscat is attempting to steer a new course. This is why at this week's conference leading speakers are bending over backwards to send out the message that they are progressive, a word that has more than one meaning in politics but which to Labour in Malta, and to others, it is being taken to mean forward-looking.
Apart from the proposed dissolution of the vigilance and disciplinary board and of the Labour Brigade, one important amendment to the statute is the setting up of a party national congress which would be empowered to elect the Labour leader and to "discuss" the party's electoral programme. Membership will be open to those who would have been party members for five consecutive years. George Abela, who had contested the party leadership with Dr Muscat following the resignation of Dr Sant after the last general election, had made a similar proposal but party delegates had then overwhelmingly voted against it.
Alternation of power is the lifeblood of a democracy. If, through its actions, Labour gives enough evidence that it can do better than the Nationalists and that, most importantly, it deserves to be trusted, it would surely stand a better chance of being elected.