I would like to share my personal experience of Joseph Muscat before and after he was elected Labour Party leader. As a delegate to Labour’s general conference I witnessed the campaigns by the various candidates contesting the leadership of the party. All the candidates shared their views with the delegates and allowed themselves to be scrutinised.

I certainly asked many questions aimed at putting all the candidates in a difficult situation. I also sought the candidates’ opinion on the party’s previous leader, Alfred Sant.

Back then many thought that should he be elected leader Dr Muscat would be no more than Dr Sant’s puppet. I clearly remember Dr Muscat’s reaction to this – he showed great respect towards his predecessor but made it clear that he was his own man.

Soon after his election Dr Muscat immediately embarked on a restructuring of the party and quite frankly I was somewhat sceptical about his ability to bring about such changes. When the general conference met to discuss the changes Dr Muscat was present throughout the whole process. Everybody had the opportunity to actively participate in this historic change in the Labour Party. My scepticism turned to optimism because the delegates not only welcomed what was being proposed but also put forward suggestions and amendments. Dr Muscat very skilfully navigated the discussions to make the necessary improvements to the proposals.

After a week of long, hard discussions the new statute was approved and I was really honored to have witnessed that change in the party. Dr Muscat promised a seismic change and that is what we got.

I appreciate Dr Muscat’s values, his endless patience to listen and to engage with people and his ability to consolidate different views and transform them into concrete proposals. He truly has the qualities of a good leader.

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