Marlene Farrugia has a lot of courage to speak out the way she is doing against the government of which she forms part.

She is turning out to be a difficult situation to handle for the Labour Party, similar to what Lawrence Gonzi had to deal with, with one major difference being that the Labour Party's majority in Parliament is far greater than the one-seat advantage the Nationalist Party had in the past legislature.

And so the effectiveness of her regular criticism is limited compared to the threats and risks Dr Gonzi had to face.

Still, her outspokenness is a thorn in Labour's side. She is earning praise and admiration from Nationalists, while Labourites insult her and try to belittle her. It is the complete opposite situation to what we had between 2008 and 2013 when Nationalists were turning against their own grumpy MPs.

The second difference is that what she is saying is coming from the heart, not because she wants to be given a post or was removed from one. She says what she says and writes what she writes out of a genuine interest in the well-being of the country, and not for selfish reasons.

So far, she has always supported her government when it came to voting in Parliament. But she has used her time in the House of Representatives to keep her colleagues on her side of the chamber on their toes. They never know what she will come up with. In public, they give the impression that they are ignoring her. Not once has any top official of the party said something against her in public. But I am sure that, within the walls of the PL headquarters in Hamrun, there are many who are advocating some kind of reprisal against her.

Her speeches and articles are always rational, well thought-out pieces that expose a woman who is struggling in a party with which she does not identify herself anymore. Although, at times, she finds positive things to say about the government, on most occasions she sees that the promises made before the election - in particular the Taghna Lkoll concept that was instrumental in Labour's victory - are not being fulfilled. What she fought for in Opposition is not being implemented in government.

Having pledged not to contest the next election gives her even more freedom to say what she really thinks, as she is no longer seeking votes. But what she will say and write until the next election will have a great bearing on the overall result.

Probably jealous of the limelight she is getting in the media, her former husband Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando involved himself in a stunt that made the headlines, showing up on Xarabank as a representative of the Labour Party. For many years, Jeffrey militated against all that Labour stood for, but since he was kicked out of the Nationalist Party, he moved closer and closer to the PL until his total endorsement last Friday.

But what he did backfired. And it backfired badly for the Labour Party too.

The intention was clear. As much as possible, Labour wanted the discussion to focus away from the subject in hand - Malliagate - but Jeffrey's presence was of little comfort to the cause. He came across as someone who is unreliable, someone you cannot trust, and someone who is more of a liability than he can ever be an asset.

What Labour did was a desperate attempt to try to irk the Nationalists. But the PN gave up on Pullicino Orlando a long time ago, and anything he says or does is like water on a duck's back. He cannot hurt the PN anymore.

But he is hurting Labour now. No true Labourite can ever welcome JPO with open arms. No true Muscat follower will accept him. And those who switched sides in the last election will switch back because of people like him, and because Labour uses people like him.

Marlene is genuine and credible, Jeffrey is not.