I do not normally promote myself in a hard sell manner since I have always believed that self-praise is no recommendation. However, since some of my fellow bloggers such as Charles Buttigieg and Ray Fava publicly wished me well in my bid to be elected as Labour’s next general secretary I feel I owe it to them and others to set out my stall before the total media ban agreed to in the last meeting of the National Executive becomes effective on Monday, July 14, 2008. So here goes.
Ever since I got back to work after the General Election I started receiving phone calls from numerous activists from all across the party spectrum encouraging me to stand for the post of General Secretary of the Malta Labour Party. These calls increased after I took part in Pierre Portelli’s politics talk show on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 on NET TV. People told me that they liked my style and saw it as the sort of approach Labour needs from the person, who is essentially its CEO, when the GS appears on the media.
So, after giving this bid much thought and consideration – after all I have a successful professional career which I will have to put on hold if I get elected – I have decided to let my name go forward and throw my hat into the ring.
Following the leadership election the Joseph Muscat - Anglu Farrugia – Toni Abela tandem has already shown that it is definitely up to the task and that it is working intelligently to regroup the party and then to get on with the important task of offering a credible and positive alternative to the jaded Nationalist Government which is reneging on the 350 odd promises that it made prior to the March General Election with every day that passes.
It is because of these new opportunities that this new political season within Labour is offering that I have decided to stick to my decision to offer my services to Labour. After all, this very hard-working, fresh and enthusiastic new leadership team deserves the best possible administration it can acquire to achieve its goal of a winning generation.
I have very clear ideas about how to improve the party organizationally from its roots. I also definitely want to get back the lost sheep. If the delegates give me their trust, this will be a priority I will work on with the collaboration of our local committees. My vision for Labour is for it to be a really professional, modern, outward looking party which is capable of appealing to its traditional support base but which can also connect with the young, new, ICT-driven Maltese generation. Connecting to the new and first time voters will, thus, also be one of my priorities.I believe - to borrow a phrase from Shirley Williams, that politics is for people – but to achieve this it also has to be a politics of substance not just pretence at presentation.
I will also work to improve the party’s finances in a way which will ensure that it has more than one source of income and yet will in no way be dependent on big business on state financing only.
For me genuine and clean, no strings attached donations by sincere admirers and supporters are welcome, as is income from any business venture which feasibility studies and well worked out business plans indicate we should go for. Revenue thus generated will be used to engage the best political campaign professionals available together with Maltese understudies who will be trained and retained by the party. I will also invest in training opportunities for all the party’s activists as I firmly believe that our party is only as good as the quality of its grass roots volunteer activists.
While doing all this I also pledge to remain readily accessible to and in contact with the party’s activists and the general public while remaining with my feet firmly planted on the ground and definitely not letting the aura of the position go to my head.
Finally, whatever the outcome of the election on August 4, I will respect the decision of the delegates and pledge to continue to serve Labour to the best of my ability in any other way that I may be asked to help, as I have always done during the 27 years in which I have been a Labour activist.