The Malta Independent on Sunday
The Labour Party’s confusion
The results of the European Parliament and local council elections have had a bigger impact on the Labour Party than originally thought.
Last June, Labour won both polls, but it saw its lead cut down substantially, from 42,000 in 2019 to just 8,400 votes in the EP election, and down to 20,000 from the 47,000-vote gap registered five years ago.
All of a sudden, and after a decade of comfortable electoral wins, Labour has the Nationalist Party breathing down its neck.
And this has affected its judgment, particularly that of Robert Abela who, as more time passes, is coming across as being unable to hold things together, taking rash decisions and going against his own word as he tries to restore confidence in his government and party. By doing this, he is irking those who sit around him on the Cabinet table, who see his knee-jerk reactions as doing more harm than good, and who have to reluctantly endorse his many reversals.
No doubt, what is going on in our courts of law has had an influence in the country’s collective thinking. The arraignment of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, three other former ministers and a host of others in connection with the magisterial inquiry into the hospitals’ deal just days before the elections opened the eyes of many of the so-called “undecided” voters, who choose allegiance depending on circumstances.
Aside from this, the myriad scandals that have hit Labour related to driving licences, social benefits to people who were not entitled to them and now, more recently, the ID cards shame, to mention a few, have thrown more spokes in Labour’s wheels. The negative vibes against Labour, which started off in the weeks preceding the MEP and local elections – serving as a midterm gauge of what the electorate was thinking – have spilled over in what is now the second half of Abela’s term in office.
Abela has not responded well to the state of affairs. His line of reasoning since 8 June has taken a turn for the worse, and his decisions are being interpreted as those of someone who is desperately seeking to save himself, and his party. The interests of his party are taking priority over those of the country.
The return of Rosianne Cutajar in the Labour parliamentary group is one such occasion. Cutajar had resigned from the group following the publication of hundreds of chat exchanges that exposed her close relationship with the man accused of being a mastermind behind the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Abela had made it clear that she would be welcomed back on condition that she apologises. This apology never came and yet, a few days ago, she was reaccepted into the Labour fold as if nothing had happened. Abela gave in.
What is equally disturbing is the way Labour changes its rules regarding its deputy leadership for party affairs. This shifting of goalposts is happening too often, and depends on the whims and needs of the day rather than on points of principle.
When, in 2016, Joseph Muscat wanted to strengthen his bond with Konrad Mizzi and promote him to a better position from where Mizzi could learn the leadership ropes, the Labour Party changed its rules to allow MPs to contest for the post of deputy leader for party affairs. Mizzi was elected, uncontested, to the post, but the Panama Papers scandal forced him to resign less than three months later, and he was replaced by Chris Cardona, who beat Owen Bonnici.
But when Cardona himself called it a day in June 2020, five months after Abela had become Prime Minister and PL leader, there was a push for a return to the past. MPs were, once again, prohibited from contesting for this particular role, and Daniel Micallef was elected. Like Mizzi, he was uncontested.
Another four years passed and with Micallef strangely pulling out in between the results of the MEP election and the local council polls, Labour has now headed back to allowing MPs and MEPs to contest for the position of deputy leader for party affairs. This came, let us remember, after former secretary general Jason Micallef expressed his intention to contest the post, a decision he later withdrew after meeting Abela, and who has now been given a role as the party’s special delegate to oversee the implementation of the electoral manifesto, a role which clashes with the ministerial one occupied by Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi.
The change of statute regarding the role of deputy leader for party affairs was the third Uturn in eight years, and shows the confusion that reins in Hamrun.
We will be able to say more about this when the candidates vying for the post will be known by next Sunday. Or will there be just one application?