Amid all the pro-PN blogs there is actually one blog which is mainly dominated by young pro-Labour people whose comments on the Labour leadership campaign make for quite interesting reading.
Significantly, the blog is called “Labour in Labour” (labourinlabour.wordpress.com) and this is what it has to say about itself: “‘Labour in labour’ is a virtual tazebao (wall newspaper). It is dedicated to an open real-time discussion of the Malta Labour Party’s quest to choose the best possible leader to replace Alfred Sant who resigned after the party’s electoral defeat of 8 March. It is not an official site, nor is it an ‘authorised’ site. A growing team of mostly young persons run it. What these young men and women have in common is an openness to dialogue and a readiness to go wherever it might take them, without preconceptions.”
Here are some select quotations from it, chosen rather haphazardly and only with name and surname identified (latest posts last).
I think we should go for new faces such as Joseph Muscat but I will not discard the idea of having Gorg Abela and Joseph as his deputy to be his successor in the future. I really think that we should modernize our party.
Antoinette Stellini
Rather than name names at this early stage, it may be more opportune to identify characteristics that a leader should have or may need to develop. I here submit a few ideas that others may want to build upon or trim:
An effective leader is one who knows s/he does not know it all
Leaders are not exempt from human frailties. A leader must therefore work within structures that benefit from the best available systems that provide the organization with effective and timely information gathered from the best scientific processes/sources, must apply such information as modelled by marketing experts, must have the humility to be the voice of the end result (even when his/her reaction is to disagree), which voice must however be in harmony with the party’s core beliefs and tenets
“Walks the talk”. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads.
He/she must be enthusiastic about his/her role as leader. People will respond more openly to a person of passion and dedication (this seems to exclude people who had left the party for not agreeing with a stance or other. Such person may not tolerate divergent views and her/his leaving may betray an ‘I know it all’ attitude. I trust that all who belong to a party or other and have qualms about aspects of their party’s strategy or beliefs stay on).
Leaders have to be a source of inspiration, and be the motivators for the required action or cause.
A leader needs to be seen to be part of the team working towards a goal.
A good leader is confident. A leader who conveys confidence inspires the best effort from team and party members. Confidence is also shown at moments when s/he admits to not knowing.
A good leader must be tolerant of ambiguity and remain calm, composed and steadfast to the main purpose.
A good leader must be able to think analytically. Not only does a good leader view a situation as a whole, but is able to break it down into parts for closer inspection.
A good leader must be committed to excellence. Second best does not lead to success. A good leader not only maintains high standards, but also is proactive in raising the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas.
Danny Attard
The important thing to be considered when the delegates choose their leaders is that the chosen ones will have the ideals based on social democratic rules but with modern flexible ideas. Joseph Muscat is the right candidate. He will gain the experience of a leader in a short time considering what he has achieved in the past years.
It is the best choice.
Joseph Farrugia
I know this blog is all about who is going to be next MLP leader but if you don’t mind I would like to say something about Alternattiva. You may say that this is irrelevant to the issue of MLP leadership. I disagree. The next MLP leader should be someone who is able to win the respect and trust of environmental activists, namely all those young women and men of goodwill who have so far voted for Alternattiva but are now political orphans. Can they vote for PN next time round or in local council elections between now and the next election, or in European Parliament elections? Of course they cannot! Fancy voting for Pullicino Orlando’s party! Can they vote for Alternattiva? Of course they cannot! Fancy voting for a party that will NEVER be in government! They have no great choice. They will either vote for Labour or they will not vote at all. Only Joe Muscat can convince them to vote Labour. Vote Joseph, get Green Policies!
Jeanette Borg Abela
We should look beyond the tip of our nose and further than the leadership contest. We have an immense job ahead of us. First, modernise the party. Secondly, win the next election (and don’t kid yourselves, these guys won’t last five years). Thirdly, modernise this taparsi-pajjiz. One man (pity there isn’t an electable lady in sight for the top job) is just not enough to see us through. That’s why we need to give as much attention to choosing the deputy leaders that we are giving to the choice of number one. There are some very valid persons around for the deputy posts. Your readers have so far mentioned only Joseph Muscat and George Abela and both for number one. But what about Evarist Bartolo? What about Joe Vella Bonnici? What about Gavin Gulia? What about Marie Louise Coleiro Preca? What about Owen Bonnici? What about Helena Dalli?
Amanda Busuttil
Whatever we do, whomever we choose, let’s do it and do it fast. This country deserves better than this. To say, as some have done, that a country gets the government it deserves, is cynical in the extreme. Ultimately, it is unfair to just less than half of Malta’s voters who voted for change and to throw out a party that tolerates corruption. I am not sure that the others – the less than half of Malta’s electors who voted Gonzi back in government – actually deserve what they voted for. Am I being too generous? No, I do not think so. They voted Gonzi (and many of them voted Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, for duck’s sake!) because they know no better, because they have been brought up in a provincial culture of macho mediocrity that condones sleaze and sees it as an attribute of virility!
Come on, let’s finally become Europeans and get rid of this bunch of parasites. 2013 here we come!
Anna Maria Callus
Alfred Grixti is only partly right when he says “now that the dust of the general and local elections has settled, it is time to get back to the grindstone and hold the Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to account” and “that will be the role of the Labour Opposition in Parliament no matter what the outcome of our three months of soul searching for a new leadership will be.” (his Sunday Times blog 23 March)
The more forward looking among Labour’s young people are asking for much more from the Labour Opposition in Parliament. They want the Labour parliamentary group to use Parliament to speak about Labour’s analysis of where we are and why we are here. More importantly, they want Labour in Parliament to speak about its vision of where we want this country to go.
The ferment within Labour’s young is surprising the Labour Party itself. As can be seen from popular unauthorised blogs (such as this virtual tazebao) the most innovative form of political debate today in the Labour Party, young intelligent Labourites are completely ignoring Gonzi’s government. They are not in the least interested in it. They consider it a sheer waste of time. They will eventually defeat it by simply ignoring it.
Of course, dear Alfred, it matters what the “outcome of our three months of soul searching for a new leadership will be”. What the hell! Only the right sort of Labour leadership will fulfil the dreams of the thousands of Maltese young women and men who feel totally unrepresented by Gonzi’s government of hypocrites and who are not at all keen in getting more of the same from Labour!
Roger Busuttil Cutajar
The Nationalists are very difficult to ignore because they have been in power for almost two decades, save for the 1996 glitch, therefore their governance has influenced our lives intrinsically in many ways. I, for one, am constantly reminded of the Gonzi government every time:
• I turn on the light, because the bills are exorbitant.
• My kids and I play the game: ‘Find the Green Patch’ in your neighbourhood, because we are penned in between concrete and concrete; yet lately Mepa has been dishing out permits (for more construction) like they were pastizzi.
• A friend calls me to say he/she has been laid-off, and cannot find another job.
• I go to the supermarket, or the green grocer, or/and the butcher or fishmonger and have to disregard my family’s wants, and concentrate only on the most essential of basic needs, as prices are ridiculously high.
• I need to use the services of the hospital, previously St Luke’s, now Mater Dei, and am told that my appointment (or that of my mother) will be in approximately six months’ time.
• I hear of another factory closing down...
• I drive my car somewhere. The bumpy ride certainly jogs my memory Roger!
• I hear of a government appointment or promotion and realise it was one of the countless ‘jobs for the boys’!
• I meet my relatives and other friends, who had to close down their small businesses because the purchasing power of the people was and still is at its lowest under this government so they see no point in running it.
• My niece calls and tells me in a discouraged disappointed voice that she still hasn’t been able to purchase an apartment or maisonette decent enough for a family of four, because she can’t afford the current market prices.
• My nine-year-old son comes back from school with a ridiculous amount of homework, which he hardly finishes in time, let alone allows him leisure time to play and take part in the physical activities everyone so readily promotes.
• I watch the ‘fat cats’ getting fatter, and the moggies getting thinner and weaker.
The Nationalist Party has always promoted itself as the party of the family, but in my opinion they have done more to undermine stable family life in this country than any other government in memory. Our public schools, our health service, our infrastructure, our economy are in shambles! Can’t you see that! Do you still think that this government can be disregarded? I can’t! Does that make me daft?
I will end my comment using Tony Blair’s words: (His first speech to the conference as party leader in 1994).
“I say it is time we were roused. Let us be blunt.
“Our system of government has become outdated.
“Our economy has been weakened
“Our people have been under-educated
“Our welfare state and public services have been run down and our society has been made more divided than at any other time...
“But our politics need not be like this. Our country need not be like this.”
Lizzy Bartolo