Labour 0 – Jason 1

Many called for Joseph Muscat to publicly disapprove of Jason Micallef’s candidacy before Monday’s election. Maybe it was wise of Dr Muscat not to heed their hasty advice. With the result as it is, he can now comfortably shake Mr Micallef’s hand, and he has avoided identifying himself with any one of the party’s factions. Dr Muscat’s intervention might have changed the outcome of the vote, but with 370 delegates favouring Jason Micallef such intervention will not have been taken lightly, and might well have triggered a speedy end to the all-round reverence he has been enjoying within the party.

It is difficult for me to understand why Mr Micallef has such a strong hold on so many Labourites. More than one half of the delegates did not vote for Mr Micallef, but 370 makes a lot of people who like Jason Micallef. I also fail to understand why Mr Micallef so badly wants to be in a team where he is obviously not wanted. And why he so badly wants to do something that he is obviously not good at. But there you go, he is obviously good at internal electoral campaigns.

The worst thing for Labour is not simply that it got lumped with a man who many see as the wrong secretary general, but that the battle for his seat was so sanguine. Too many MLP exponents came out against Mr Micallef, and he came out against too many of his colleagues – the atmosphere at Mile End must be awfully cool now. It’s going to be difficult for everyone to forgive and forget and work together again, and for Toni Abela and Anglu Farrugia to exercise authority over Mr Micallef.

Moreover, Malta now knows that these people are not as happy with their party as they would like to be. Voters might forget one person’s sins, but in-fighting leaves a lasting distrust.

It does not help that Mr Micallef lacks discretion and diplomacy, and does not seem to understand the “for the greater good” concept. His idea of meditation and reconciliation after the general election was a slimy speech on Super One radio attacking Michael Falzon for his counting hall hug with Joe Saliba. Who knows, had Mr Micallef had been there, Dr Falzon might have hugged him instead.

But all is not lost. Two months under Joseph Muscat have already yielded a noticeable change in Labour – the party is not the whiny sulking slob it once was. Maybe Jason Micallef under Joseph Muscat will be better than Jason Micallef under Alfred Sant. And if this sounds too good to be true, we can still argue that the role of Secretary General of the Labour Party does not have to be as vital as it is to the Nationalist Party, because Labour has the added role of deputy leader of party affairs. Of course any talk of Labour doing away with this extra post next year must now be shelved – firstly, Toni Abela is too valuable to be sent away, and secondly, it is murder – particide – to shift all party duties into the Secretary General’s realm just when the Secretary General’s office has been severely weakened.

An intelligent Labour Party administration would do well to limit the amount of press coverage Mr Micallef receives during the next five years, and Mr Micallef must be the first to understand why. Unlike Dr Muscat’s unifying campaign, Mr Micallef’s was divisive and negative, and voters have, rightly or wrongly, come to see Mr Micallef as the epitome of all that is bad about Labour. Just as the Nationalist Party hid some of the ministers during last electoral campaign, the Labour Party must now hide Jason Micallef.

Mr Micallef has sadly been given another chance, but he can use it to prove his worth by doing his job well for starters, and discreetly, for the benefit of the Party that pays his salary.

The outcome of this election was the worst that it could have been. But the Labour party does not have to go to the slums just because their Secretary General is everyone’s least favourite man. The party is full of people who genuinely want to see it do better in future polls, and with friendly Joseph Muscat at the helm these people might get the chance to do their bit. It is up to the leadership to make sure that it is these people who are empowered, and not the cowboys and prima donnas. If Jason Micallef somehow forgets to do his work again, there are many people who would be happy to fill in for him out of sheer love for their party and their country. It goes without saying, however, that Joseph Muscat’s job has just become seventy-seven times more difficult.

Sylvia Cremona is currently reading for a Communications Degree. This blog was produced by Insite – The Student Media Organisation. www.insite.org.mt