The ‘revelation’ by two papers on Sunday that Konrad Mizzi is considering making a bid for the leadership of the party, and presumably that of the premiership, when Joseph Muscat bids farewell to Castille could be a turning point in the history of the Labour Party and of Malta in general, whether Mizzi gets chosen and even if he is turned down.

Before this announcement, the stage was more or less set, with the main candidates known and discreetly campaigning for a race that no one is certain when it will be.

Now Konrad Mizzi has barged in with his customary delicacy and the scene has drastically changed. He is, of course, within his rights to campaign and the acclaim he receives any time he speaks at Labour gatherings, let alone the attacks on him by the PN, the European Parliament and the Maltese MEPs in particular, all boost him up.

So far, the people most mentioned as possible contenders were mostly outsiders. Konrad Mizzi is the only one from the present Cabinet to consider being a contender, especially if Chris Cardona, the deputy prime minister, does not become a contender too.

So far, the received wisdom was that the main contenders were Miriam Dalli, backed by Joseph Muscat and OPM, and Chris Fearne, backed by the party grass roots core. So what has triggered this almost bid by Konrad Mizzi?

There is an unknown factor here: so far (we are writing this at 4.50pm) there has been no announcement who the next President will be, even though time is getting short – the next President will be in office in a month’s time. It may be that this announcement will trigger a Cabinet reshuffle (of course, depending on who the new President will be). Could Konrad Mizzi have glimpsed the future and jumped before he was pushed in the reshuffle? That’s speculating, of course.

On the one hand, Konrad Mizzi is a doer, this administration’s main doer. He has jumped into every difficult portfolio with gusto – electricity generation, healthcare, now Air Malta. His manner is brash, he speaks in jerky sentences, sometimes it is hard to follow his arguments. Yet, he delivers, according to the party rank and file. Maybe he cuts corners, but who cares?

On the other hand, he has been found with an company in Panama, the only minister in the entire EU. To trigger this company he has been said to have promised an injection of funds that he could not earn on his salary as a minister. He has been caught making contradictory claims as regards this company. Yet Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has kept him on, despite the international hullabaloo.

What will change is he decides to make a leadership bid? One thing for certain, he will have to battle it out against the present and possible future contenders. Those who till now have kept silent on the many charges against him will be forced to come out in the open. The party grass roots will be forced to take sides. Again, he loses the umbrella of support he now enjoys thanks to Joseph Muscat.

If one were ill-disposed in his regards, this could look like someone tricking him into declaring he is a candidate so as to get him out of the way. But maybe he thinks he would be a good prime minister and will get things done.

Usually a contender for such a post would not make the announcement by himself but get himself nominated by select supporters. This has all the marks of a self-appointed candidacy. Unless we know the background, we cannot be more sure.