Muscat reassures supporters as changes unfold

Labour leader Joseph Muscat today sought to reassure longstanding Labour supporters that current changes within the party were in its best interests.

"I cried with you when we lost the elections. My job now is to ensure that we do not cry any more," Dr Muscat said in a Super One Radio interview.

"The test we face is to accept the return of those who left us and even those who may have criticised us in the past. This is a lesson we need to learn," Dr Muscat said.

"If I do the usual things, we will get the usual results, which means losing another election and, with it, the chance to bring about change in the country," the Labour leader said.

His comments were the first since the announcement yesterday that PL General Secretary Jason Micallef was stepping down and would take over the chairmanship of One Productions. It was also the first speech in which he made reference to Marisa Micallef having joined the PL.

The Labour Party had suffered in the past because it failed to connect with certain sectors of society which felt that the PN was their natural home, Dr Muscat said.

"These people in the 1970s might have felt at home with the PL because of the social changes it brought about. They had also been in favour of EU membership because they felt the EU embodied their liberal values," Dr Muscat said. But these people were now disillusioned by Dr Gonzi's government and were seeing hope in the PL.

Referring specifically to Marisa Micallef, Dr Muscat said she was part of a group of people who advised the party. She did not run the show but, Dr Muscat said, he was confident that her contribution would yield dividends.

"I spoke at length with Marisa Micallef. She did not vote in the last general election because she was disillusioned by Lawrence Gonzi. She is representative of a whole sector of similarly disillusioned people."

Dr Muscat said that for years, the PL had seen the PN drawing Labourites to its ranks. But the PL had never had the courage to venture into what were perceived to be Nationalist strongholds. "We gave up before even trying," Dr Muscat said. But this now had to change.

Winning an election was now no longer a dream but an achievable goal, Dr Muscat said. The time had also come for the people to demonstrate their feelings in the streets.

Dr Muscat closed off the interview by borrowing Dr Fenech Adami's old rallying cry: Is-sewwa jirbah zgur.