Top of the pops?

The man elected to the helm of the Malta Labour Party last week feels that bringing up a child could be more difficult than running the party. He plans to juggle both and try to run as normal a family as possible in the circumstances.

It's Joseph Muscat's first Father's Day tomorrow. He's agreed to squeeze us in between a hectic day of meetings, on the day of the deputy leader elections, to discuss fatherhood. He comes out to meet us in the lobby with a saunter, hands in pockets. He looks tired, has no hair gel, no tie, and his shirt is no longer neatly tucked in. He ushers me and Matthew the photographer into the vast Leader's Office. "Such a waste of space," he mumbles. He apologises for not carrying out the interview at his home. "It was virtually impossible. I've been here since I don't know what time."

He doesn't have the air of over-confident expertise which at times he seems to exude whenever he's on TV. But he does look incredibly relaxed for a man who's taken on the top post in Malta's second largest party. In the three-quarters of an hour that we have, he seems perfectly happy to talk about his family, to admit he sometimes finds himself uttering baby talk, to discuss the bath-time regimes, the diaper routines, the introduction of solids and the smell of poo. And strangely there is no sign of that smug smile of his: it's a different warmish kind of smile that we get which at moments even turns into hearty laughs.

He seems to be a thoroughly modern, hands-on dad, who is very matter-of-fact about it. "I can change nappies at record times," he quips. "I have the morning shift before I leave for work - and Michelle has the evening shift and um, well, really and truly she has all the other shifts in between as well, except on Sunday when I take over." He claims he wouldn't mind being a househusband and would have no qualms in swapping places with his wife to bring up his children full-time: "Although I really believe it's much more difficult than being party leader."

He proudly shows us pictures of his daughters on his mobile: Etoile and Soleil (star and sun in French), eight-month-old chubby fraternal twins. His wife got the name Etoile from a book she once read. "When we got to know we were having twin girls we wanted to find another name with the same feel as Etoile. And that's how Soleil came about." Apparently according to an influential names website, both names were very popular in France in the 1920s.

He wants the girls to be trilingual: in Maltese, English and French. It seems that this leadership post was not always on the cards: "We [him and his wife] always thought we'd be running for another term for the MEP post and so the kids would have been in Brussels and would have needed French."

Now as an MLP leader the scenario is different. I mention the current UK political scenario where the Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken a decision to keep his children out of the limelight and the Tory Leader David Cameron is eager for voters to see who he is and has even allowed the cameras into his home to film a normal, chaotic family breakfast. So who is he going to be?

He frowns and says that he is worried. He is worried about the fact that his daughters will grow up in the limelight. "I am scared they might suffer because of me. That's not to say I will be shutting them away in some backroom closet - it's not my intention at all but I hope and trust that the media will be considerate enough to realise that they are not part of the political package," he says.

The plan is to try to run as normal a family as is possible in the circumstances. "Obviously there will be political events where they will be joining me but I won't be running after family photo opportunities." In fact for this piece we asked for a family photo but when he discussed it with his wife they "decided they'd rather not". Ah, his wife. He mentions her endlessly. She is undoubtedly a huge influence on him. His talk is peppered with "wes". Maybe it's her we should all be interviewing after all. I ask who comes first, his wife, his kids or the party? He doesn't ever stop to think before he answers, except on this question. After the briefest of pauses he says: "Definitely my family first." He adds, "Of course I will be giving the party my all in fulfilling my duties as party leader which I will fulfil wholeheartedly and give my all."

He is aware that certain decisions with regards to his children will probably make the news, such as what school - and for a socialist party leader even more so - he'll be sending them to. "I am aware of that but our decisions won't be based on what's best for our image but on what's best for our daughters." So will you be sending them to a private school or government school then? "We're still discussing it."

And how does he plan to go about the day so that he doesn't end up just seeing his daughters at bedtime. He starts to answer, but then stops and says: "Alfred Sant found the time to meet his mother and daughter every single day for 16 years. Despite the workload he managed, so I think it's doable." So you'll be taking Dr Sant as a role model? "Hmmm. Yes, in this sense yes." Then quickly adds: "In this sense only - not for other things," he says emphatically, speaking in bold and highlight. He refers to this instance again at the end of the interview: "The Alfred Sant bit - can you please make it clear that I was just referring to parenthood," he says with a concerned laugh and a scratch of the head.

I ask him if he might sometimes forget to take off his daddy hat when at work and be tempted to patronise his colleagues? (Cue the storytelling bit at his inauguration rally). But he laughs it off: "I can assure you that would be very difficult. Most people around me are much older than me - believe me it's pretty hard to come anywhere near patronising them."

Age does not otherwise worry him. He doesn't feel too young to juggle two major tasks - one that of a dad and the other as a party leader. "I think I have the necessary energy for it." He goes on to say how after all he is not even the youngest socialist leader in Europe. The Finnish party has just elected a 32-year-old and the Polish another 34-year-old. "We'll be able to go for a drink at the annual general meeting," he jokes.

He does not plan to encourage his kids to go into politics: "Anyways I think children of politicians tend to be quite turned off by politics." What if your kids grow up to be tessarati of the Nationalist Party? He laughs out loud, mockingly grimaces and says, "Well, it's a free world." What if their boyfriend is a hard-die Nationalist? Another laugh, another mention of a "free world" and then: "Well, they'll be working hard on him to get his vote - and they'll have pretty convincing arguments for that."

His main concern for his kids is not being able to give them the freedom they need. "It's all fine to plan in theory that you're going to be relaxed parents but in reality ppfff!! I don't know, ever since they were born I've become increasingly protective. I hope I'll be able to let them go," he says. Will he encourage them to go and work abroad when they grow up? He is all enthusiasm about this. "Yes! Definitely! It's an experience which everyone needs to make. It enriches a person. I hope especially they get the chance to study abroad. That's why I said I hope I'll know when to let go."

It's hard to believe that this is the same brash-and-insolent journalist who in 2003 clamoured that the EU would be Malta's final curtain. I get the feeling that his successful stint at the EP, away from the island, and from the brainwashing party machine, was something of an eye opener. Had the Labour Party won the 2003 election, and Malta stayed out of the EU, Joseph Muscat would today be a very different man and a very different father at that. He says however that losing his first child [in a miscarriage] was what changed him. "I wasn't here with Michelle and the fact that the first available plane made me get by her side 24 hours later made me feel so helpless, so utterly and hopelessly useless."

This, he claims changed his life perspective. That's when he parted with his cockiness and short fuse. "People who know me can pinpoint the change in me to that time. Up till then it was always 'my way or no way'. After that I started listening and empathising. Then when the twins came it was such a difficult pregnancy for Michelle, we had all but given up. And so to see them being born - I don't know, it gave me a reason to live once more - which up to that point had been a very far away feeling."

It's very hard to imagine having this interview with his predecessor. Whereas Dr Sant relayed an aura of steeliness and stiffness, Dr Muscat seems eager to bring back the element of humanity in his party. At the core he is a husband and family man, we'll have to see whether his new job and ongoing fatherhood will affect him and whether he will yet again morph into something different.

In the meantime, at least, we have an MLP leader who's media friendly. When I ask him what place, anywhere in the world, he most wants to show his daughters, he says: "One day I'd like to show them the place where they were conceived. But that's a secret I'm afraid."