The Labour Party is about to get a new deputy leader for party affairs after Toni Abela was nominated by the government to the European Court of Auditors. Leonard Callus looks at the history of the two main parties’ deputy leaders and their changing roles and influence within the party hierarchy.

The Prime Minister’s tweet on deputy leader Toni Abela’s nomination to the European Court of Auditors has cast a spotlight on the post Dr Abela is about to vacate.

Joseph Muscat has spoken of wanting an organiser and moderniser in the position. This responsibility is only the latest devised for the men who have worn the mantle of deputy leadership over the decades.

Their role is often vague and, as second-in-command, they are inevitably eclipsed by the leader. “Only exceptionally has the deputy leadership been a path to the party’s top post,” says professor Joe Pirotta, who has studied contemporary Maltese political and constitutional development.

Among the best ever, according to history professor Henry Frendo, were Labour’s Joseph Flores and the PN’s Ċensu Tabone (PN) who “did not shy away from a robust confrontation with their leader”.

The often differing views ofPN leader Eddie Fenech Adami (right) and deputy leader Guido de Marco (left) – seen here when Dr Fenech Adami was elected leader-designate of the PN in January 1977 – benefitted the Nationalist Party.The often differing views ofPN leader Eddie Fenech Adami (right) and deputy leader Guido de Marco (left) – seen here when Dr Fenech Adami was elected leader-designate of the PN in January 1977 – benefitted the Nationalist Party.

Handled well, in fact, differing viewpoints between the leader and the deputy leader usually benefit the party in the long-term.

Some hold that the differences between Eddie Fenech Adami and Guido de Marco were more beneficial to the PN than the similarities that existed between Lawrence Gonzi and Tonio Borg.

Dr Flores was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party when Dom Mintoff took over the leadership in 1949. Fifty years after his election, at the height of the former leader’s fall-out with Alfred Sant, Mr Mintoff gave an insight into his relationship with Dr Flores.

“One of my best friends, whom I cherish as an honest, honourable, intelligent person” was how Mr Mintoff described him in Parliament on July 7, 1998.

He recalled their strong disagreement over integration with Britain, then a defining issue. Mr Mintoff remarked that, although Dr Flores was the party’s deputy leader, he allowed him to speak his mind even “on the party’s stage”.

Anġlu Farrugia, former deputy leader of the Labour Party known for his loyalty to Dom Mintoff.Anġlu Farrugia, former deputy leader of the Labour Party known for his loyalty to Dom Mintoff.

When things came to a head, however, he appointed Dr Flores as Speaker of the House of Representatives. (Fifty-eight years later, former deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia was appointed Speaker in somewhat analogous circumstances.)

The former prime minister said this confirmed he had not been the “dictator” many made him out to be. In the same speech, he went on to criticise the hold that “two persons” had over the party in the late 1990s.

“Now I understand why the deputy leader for party affairs [George Abela] feels lost,” Mr Mintoff had remarked.

Mirroring different historical and cultural outlooks, the PN has a viċi kap, while Labour has a deputat mexxej – actually two, assisting the leader in parliamentary and partyaffairs respectively.

Joseph Flores (Labour) and Ċensu Tabone (PN), are among the best-ever deputy leaders

The post evolved very differently within the two parties. Labour has had a deputy leader since its foundation: on March 15, 1921, Paolo Bugelli was appointed to serve as William Savona’s deputy in the leadership of the Labour Party, set up that day.

But it was a 92-year wait for the PN. The first attempt came in 1949. Enrico Mizzi’s reaction to a proposal for the appointment of Giorgio Borg Olivier in that position was that he was already the de facto deputy leader. The proposal made no headway.

Once he became leader, Dr Borg Olivier himself was not keen to have a deputy, worried that such a post might pose a threat.

“Up to the 1962 victory, Borg Olivier was somewhat viewed as a stop-gap leader during a politically and economically unstable period,” observes Prof. Pirotta.

The call for a deputy leader was one of the claims made by Herbert Ganado’s faction, leading to the party’s split in 1958. Dr Borg Olivier did not budge.

In October 1965 the matter was debated again. The question was raised whether a two-thirds majority would be required “which evidently would make it more difficult to select a winner”, according to Prof. Frendo.

Another unsuccessful attempt took place in 1967.

The breakthrough happened on June 24, 1972. Ċensu Tabone, then the party’s secretary general, was elected the first PN deputy leader.

Four years later, Labour was again ahead of the curve, appointing two deputy leaders instead of one, while this structure only became part of the PN statute in 2013.

Back in 1978, Mr Mintoff had even flirted with the idea of having a third deputy leader, responsible for union affairs, following the PL’s (the MLP) statutory union with the General Workers’ Union. It is claimed that the idea behind the proposal was an attempt to water down Lorry Sant’s hold on the party. Eventually, however, the idea fizzled out.

After Alfred Sant was elected leader in 1992, he fashioned a fresh image for the two deputy leaders in his initial efforts to do away with the personality-centred nature of the party. Pushing the leadership trio as the “winning team” within a new Labour mould, Dr Sant was flanked by two “fresh veterans George Abela, bridging with the GWU, and George Vella, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici’s choice, to connect to the party’s grassroots.

The script changed again in 1998 when Joe Brincat (who had already been deputy leader to Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici between 1987 and 1992) replaced Dr Abela in an effort to repair the impact of Dr Sant’s falling out with Mr Mintoff.

After the 2008 election, which had been fought on presidential lines, new Labour leader Joseph Muscat needed the party to connect with two diametrically-opposed audiences: the alienated Mintoffians and those somewhat allergic to the Labour Party.

His solution lay partly in the choice of deputy leaders. While the new Labour ‘movement’ was welcoming of the latter, the former was embodied in deputy leader for parliamentary affairs Anġlu Farrugia, who was known for his loyalty to Mintoff and his ideals.

Is Konrad Mizzi’s expected election as Labour deputy leader an attempt to shape the party in Joseph Muscat’s image? Photo: Matthew Mirabelli. Right: Joseph Muscat.Is Konrad Mizzi’s expected election as Labour deputy leader an attempt to shape the party in Joseph Muscat’s image? Photo: Matthew Mirabelli. Right: Joseph Muscat.

Coming up to the present time, Dr Abela, the other deputy leader, is a dyed-in-the-wool Labourite, in contrast to the man almost certain to succeed him, newcomer Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi who is a product of the Labour ‘movement’.

The move will be enabled by an amendment to the party statute which banned MPs from contesting the post. That ban had in fact been introduced by Dr Muscat himself in 2008, soon after he took over the party leadership.

Then, the change was partly inspired by the party’s election defeat analysis which held that too many party officials had been interested in their personal election campaigns rather than the party’s.

The timing indicates that he is not grooming Dr Mizzi to be his successor and it is reasonable to read the move in terms of a mission and a message.

Once in government, party structures tend to become weak. Many join the public administration, while the electorate’s expectations from the party grow exponentially.

Is Dr Mizzi being hand-picked to re-engineer the party machine for the next election? If so, how will a minister with such a vast portfolio – energy and health – manage to do this? It remains to be seen whether success will come at the expense of the party’s role to keep the government in check.

In terms of the message, a left-wing ‘maverick’ is being replaced by a pro-business proponent from Dr Muscat’s ‘new middle-class’. Is Labour being shaped in Dr Muscat’s image?

Also, is this appointment being timed to coincide with the inauguration of the new power station, last election’s cause célèbre and in which Mizzi has had a huge hand?

The ones who became leader

The major political parties’ share of the 27 deputy leaders is unequal: Labour has had 20 while the PN has had seven.

Four became party leaders (Dom Mintoff, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Lawrence Gonzi and Simon Busuttil); five served as president: Anton Buttigieg, Agatha Barbara, George Abela, Ċensu Tabone and Guido de Marco.

Prof. de Marco’s 22-year term (1977-1999) and Dr Busuttil’s six month stint (November 2012 – May 2013) are the longest and shortest in Maltese political party history.

Twenty of the 27 deputy leaders came from the traditional professions: 16 lawyers or notaries, three doctors and an architect. All of PN’s deputy leaders were lawyers, except Dr Tabone who was a medical doctor.

Besides 10 legal professionals, two doctors and an architect, Labour deputy leaders included a teacher (Agatha Barbara) and an army colonel (Michael Dundon).

The only woman to serve in the post was Ms Barbara (1976–1981).

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