Under the leadership of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat critical thinking within the Labour fold was encouraged, but it’s not the same since Robert Abela has taken over, PL Member of the European Parliament Cyrus Engerer told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

The MEP, who has still yet to make public his decision on whether he will be contesting June’s MEP election, said that although different ideas are still endorsed within the Labour Party, critical thinking under the leadership of Robert Abela seems to have “toned down”.

A former Nationalist Party member who joined the PL and replaced Miriam Dalli at the EP when the latter resigned to become a minister, Engerer said in an interview that “it seems like there is a fear within the (Labour) party for people to talk”.

He said that during Muscat’s leadership the Labour youth and several other party wings “were always pushed to come out with ideas and to continuously challenge the party… which I feel was a good thing”.

Nowadays, he said, it is not about there being “no space for different ideas”, but rather there being a difference in how these ideas are considered within the party.

Speaking about his own experience when Muscat led the party, Engerer said that when he proposed a new idea, the former Prime Minister would ask him (Engerer) to “convince him” about it.

“Sometimes I convinced him and other times he used to convince me because sometimes he used to have a bird’s eye view of certain things as a Prime Minister which I did not have,” he said.

The MEP said that different leaders mean different styles of leadership. Although not agreeing with Abela on everything, Engerer said that he has a good relationship with the PM and that he acknowledges his good work towards the strengthening of the country’s governance and democracy.

Despite his sometimes-controversial views, Engerer said that he is going to remain the voice of those who are “environmentalists, those who believe in the rule of law and … we should be the voice of minority, the worker and civil rights”.

“I am going to remain that voice wherever I am,” he said when asked for an answer as to whether he was going to contest for the upcoming MEP elections or not.

He said that the final decision will come after he finishes all his legislative work, such as the final votes on the green deal claims. Pressured on the matter he said that there is still time till April for him and others to present their candidacy, and “there are more candidates being approved because till three weeks ago we had six candidates when we normally have 12”.

Engerer said that his decision will be based on a number of issues which he “as a person and a politician have always observed”.

Asked to elaborate on these issues and whether they are negative or positive, the MEP said there is a mix of both and that there is always something happening in Malta “like any other country”. However, for the time being Engerer said that his focus is to finish his work as an MEP this term.

Commenting on the role he occupied since 2020, Engerer said he loves what he does and that he believes that once a person is an activist they will be an activist throughout their lives. Additionally, he said that he will remain the voice of the people, be it if he remains in the European Parliament or takes a more active role in local politics.

From his first political role, back in 2003 when he, together with David Casa, was advocating for Malta to join the EU, the MEP said that his role in activism has only continued to strengthen.

Having written a thesis on the functioning of the EU and what can be done to better the institution, the politician was also asked about the subject.

Engerer said that there should be more transparency and accountability within the European Parliament. On this issue he said that after the revelations of the Qatar gate scandal, where politicians and lobbyists together with their families are being investigated, he expected that rules of procedures were going to become more robust. He said that there was an attempt by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to do so, after coming up with around 14 proposals on this matter. However, despite having the right intentions and going into the right direction when it came to negotiations with all political parties, the proposals were weakened.

Engerer was also asked to list his biggest disappointment from his career so far at a European level.

He said that unfortunately Maltese MEPs are too attached with the beliefs of the local political parties “in the element of one party against the other”. He said that the local mentality is sometimes “exported at the European Parliament”. Commenting on this style of politics he said that as an MEP he has worked the other way round as this style of politics disgusts him.

“I believe that politics should be one of compromise where you listen to every side, not only the two main ones (political parties PN and PL) but to many other sides as there are many more people with several opinions, who can help come to the best decision for the benefit of citizens”.

He said that the fact that there are so many people who have said that they do not want to vote in the upcoming elections, attests to the fact that voters are “fed up” with this very same style of politics. Moreover, he also said that apart from the constant “one against each other” style of politics present between the government and the opposition, there is also “the influence of big businesses and contractors on both political parties which limit them in what they do and say.”

Despite this, when asked, Engerer said that the Maltese voter is an informed voter when it comes to European elections, as they know who the candidates are and what they do.