News that Anġlu Farrugia was stepping down from his deputy leader’s post last Thursday came like a bolt out of the blue for many within the Labour Party – but only because they did not expect their party to be so bold.

Joseph Muscat was right to ask for Anġlu Farrugia’s resignation. What he did wrong was to leave it so late

On the face of it, Dr Farrugia resigned after saying last Sunday that Magistrate Audrey Demicoli (who he did not name) had ruled against him in a corrupt practices case because of political bias.

However, even within the party few reject the idea that Dr Farrugia’s poor performance in the Xarabank debate with his PN counterpart Simon Busuttil played a part in his downfall.

Dr Farrugia himself suggested as much in his hard-hitting resignation letter, in which he said that Dr Muscat did not appear to have a problem with his Sunday speech (he actually said he had congratulated him on it) before a front page article appeared in The Times the day after reporting his comments on the magistrate.

“The truth is that the Xarabank debate provided the context, but I feel that the comment on the magistrate and its ramifications, particularly now, as the judiciary is going through such a delicate moment, made his position untenable,” an MP who wished not to be named told The Sunday Times.

The view is shared by former PN President Frank Portelli, who argued that Joseph Muscat had no option but to demand Dr Farrugia’s resignation.

“Once a policeman, always a policeman, I once told Anġlu Farrugia, and I think this came across in the debate with Simon Busuttil on Xarabank. I think he came across as aggressive and this came through even in his comments on the magistrate,” Dr Portelli said.

He said Dr Muscat would have realised that an attack by Dr Farrugia, a potential deputy Prime Minister, on the integrity of the judiciary would bring back memories of how the then Labour government treated the courts in the 1980s.

Moreover, taken in the context of the narrowing gap between the two parties (down to eight per cent from 12 per cent only four weeks ago), the Labour leader would have made the assessment that Dr Farrugia’s gaffes could very well scupper the party’s chances and acted accordingly. “Muscat showed that he is not afraid of blood, used in the metaphorical sense obviously, and that is how you need to be in his position.”

Former Nationalist Party candidate Georg Sapiano said the Labour leader acted “appropriately” but argued that he should have made his assessment earlier.

“Joseph Muscat was right to ask for Anġlu Farrugia’s resignation. What he did wrong was to leave it so late. He must have known, along with the rest of the nation, that as deputy leader, Farrugia was wearing shoes that were rather too large for him,” Dr Sapiano said.

He said had the Labour leader found a way to ease him out earlier, he would have appeared less merciless and would not “have needed to concoct that whole Xarabank stunt which was purely intended to keep Dr Farrugia away from the national microphone”.

Instead of Dr Farrugia, the PL allowed rebel MP Franco Debono to take the deputy leader’s place on the night of the scheduled televised debate, which was then cancelled before agreement was reached to hold it the next day.

The debate “was a total debacle in which Anġlu Farrugia not only overflowed with learning but, to paraphrase Sydney Smith, also stood in the slop,” Dr Sapiano said, pointing out that the comment on the magistrate was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

However, some Labour helpers and canvassers have been bemused by the sudden resignation.

“The last thing you want is infighting in the run-up to an election,” one Labour source said.

The party administration is well aware of this and has engaged on a reconciliation drive both with Dr Farrugia and his supporters.

So far, Dr Farrugia stuck rigorously to an agreement he had with the administration not to make any statements that the PN could take advantage of, other than publishing his resignation letter, sources said.

Meanwhile, Dr Farrugia’s decision to go along with the demand to step down as well as his decision to remain is being applauded by the grassroots.

“Anġlu is a gentleman. I just wished that he had played his cards better.

“He should have said that he would assume his responsibility and step down.

“That would have left him in a better position at the polls and in relation to a potential Labour Cabinet post,” another Labour source said.

The move for Louis Grech’s nomination is being seen as a plus for the party but some questions have been raised about his preference to work in the background.

“Louis Grech has a good reputation as a manager, is soft spoken and is the sort of person that a Nationalist voter can identify with. But he is a bit of an unknown quantity in that sense, despite being Labour’s leading MEP. It all depends on how he is positioned,” a PN source said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.