Former Labour, now independent, MP Marlene Farrugia sometimes appears to forget she is not an ordinary voter disappointed by Labour’s unfulfilled promises. She was elected on a Labour ticket and not on the ticket of some idealistic ‘movement’ that is distinct from the party she helped bring to power.

Her break with Labour came as no surprise because she has been a thorn in its side practically since the election. Significantly, the breaking point came over the planning authority demerger, environmental protection being something Dr Farrugia feels very strongly about. She has won much praise as chairwoman of the parliamentary environment committee but that was partly due to the fact that she came from the government side and still raised very pertinent questions.

She ended up voting in Parliament with the Nationalist Opposition before resigning from both Labour and its parliamentary group.

The Prime Minister has whimsically described her as a freethinker and she admits she has always reasoned in a way that was outside the political party straightjacket. And there is probably where the problem with Dr Farrugia lies.

She says that the 36,000 majority voted for a government without favour, for meritocracy, transparency, the strengthening of justice and rule of law. She is disappointed in Labour in all these areas. But this is not political ideology, this is good governance.

She did concede in an interview with this newspaper that she does not agree with the Prime Minister on severalideological issues but what ideology is she actually speaking of? It is a known fact that Labour’s shift to the right has upset many a leftist. Labour’s delisting from the Socialist International, of which it had been a member since 1955, was very significant. But where does Dr Farrugia stand?

It takes courage to stand up to Labour the way she did. We have seen already the price she has to pay for breaking ranks, first in the government’s refusal to reappoint her on the environment committee on technical, even if correct, grounds and then that shameful incident with old guard Labour MP Joe Debono Grech in Parliament.

Dr Farrugia said the threats she received in the House were a throwback to Labour in the 1970s and 1980s. She was around then, so she knows what she is talking about. And, yet, she joined the very party she now denounces.

It doesn’t reflect well on her judgement and an apology may not be out of place to people who followed her lead and are now disappointed with the Labour ‘movement’ she keeps referring to.

Pinning a political ideology on Dr Farrugia is difficult. There is definitely a green agenda in much of what she says and does but what is her political future? She says that, “up till now”, she is not set on contesting the next election. That is not exactly conclusive.

Dr Farrugia has done immense damage to Labour with her departure because she has wiped out any claim it may have had on environment protection. It is hard to foresee any reconciliation although in politics anything is possible. She also says she has turned down an invitation to join the Nationalist Party.

The question therefore remains: once the storm is over, what future is there for Dr Farrugia? She could end up in political oblivion.

She has many valid points to make on environment protection but she will need a party to move from words to action. That involves commitment to an ideology.