Joseph Muscat has been at the helm of our party for exactly 10 years. The best observation I can think of making on this milestone, this wonderful anniversary is a simple, humble, yet deeply felt request: Joseph, do not leave before the next general election.

I know I would be asking him to break his word, which is a big ask in his respect.

From before becoming leader he had already promised that he was embarking on a journey that would last a decade and not more. Yet, there are various valid reasons for asking our party leader, our Prime Minister, to reconsider.

To say that Muscat has changed the Labour Party would be a gross understatement. Rather than just change it, he has breathed completely new life into it, given it a new vitality and engrained in it a new sense of pride. Being proud to be Labour is no longer a slogan. It is a fact of political life. Muscat did it, against all odds.

That life, that vitality and that sense of pride are still growing at a fast rate.

As his leadership in the first, and now in the second, legislature has shown, there does not seem to be a ceiling to halt this growth. It would therefore be a real pity – indeed an irony – if Muscat himself were to put in that ceiling with his premature exit. Let’s keep going, I say.

Muscat’s complete transformation of the Labour Party into a winning machine was not just a matter of organisation and management, crucial as these were to reach our goals. More importantly, however, the success of his leadership stemmed from the ideas he sowed, nurtured and cultivated. It is from those very ideas that the country and the party are reaping their fruit today.

Being proud to be Labour is no longer a slogan. It is a fact of political life

Muscat’s vision was not grasped immediately. Some were sceptical, other baffled.

Indeed, many, particularly the two Nationalist Party leaders he defeated, ridiculed them at first. Today they no longer do. Today, who would deny that our leader created a movement with a wider reach than the party itself?

Just look at the two historic majorities we obtained in the last two elections and the answer will just pop out at you.

How many economists today would be willing to support Simon Busuttil’s call in 2013 that with Labour in government, the economy would be on course gas down għal ġol-ħajt? How many businessmen today are still heeding the PN warning that with Muscat in Castille their private initiatives would be stultified? How many trade unions, unless they’re politically myopic, would deny that workers in all sectors are doing better than before?

How many of those who genuinely believe in granting more rights to individuals and minorities can deny that we are now at the forefront in Europe, let alone in Maltese political history on this count?

How many even remember, let alone believe, that the PN once claimed that we could not provide free childcare?

I could go on but let me pause here.

The upshot of it all is that it was Muscat who led us to aspire to and reach these heights. Why should he call it a day instead of continuing to lead us to higher ones? The man still has a lot more in him to give to the country.

His vision is still steadily and powerfully taking root and will continue to do so even when the next general election comes round.

It would be a pity to interrupt its course because of a promise he made a decade ago.

There is one final reason why I would be delighted to see Muscat lead us in the next election. He defeated Lawrence Gonzi in 2013 with the largest electoral majority in Maltese history. In 2017, he went on to defeat his successor Simon Busuttil with an even larger majority.

I genuinely and honestly want to see him win against the third PN leader with a yet even wider majority. It would not be for vanity’s sake. It would be giving a fitting end to an exciting, inspiring and inspired political journey which started from the bottom of the mountain and reached the highest peak, a place no one had been to before.

Joseph Muscat owes it to himself as much as to us. Please break your promise.

Chris Fearne is Deputy Prime Minister.