The last week has witnessed the Labour Party placing yet another significant block in its building of firm foundations for a future Labour govern-ment. The launch of its vision statement dealing with inter-national relations is a clear indication of how Labour is working in Malta and abroad, and how it intends to administer Malta once in government.

Labour governments have always given Malta its due with respect to our country’s international relations. Major unilateral and multilateral initiatives taken up by the Mintoff administrations of the 1970s and 1980s are still significant cornerstones of our international relations. At the time, the vigour and persistence shown in establishing Malta as an independent and non-aligned state surprised those observers who looked upon Malta as being poor and colonial, without any significant voice in matters that affected its security and economy.

It was not easy then to talk of effective independence, particularly economic, when some of our policies were still being run in an underhand manner by interests that were not primarily Malta’s.

Labour was then, in fact, ridiculed for its non-aligned politics and for the initiation of serious relations with Arab States. However, on close examination today we can clearly see that, at the time, Malta’s international relations were balanced between east and west, and contributed to our economic, social and cultural development, obviously having regard to the political climate then obtaining. It was a significant departure from formal diplomatic niceties, meeting for meeting’s sake, and simple cin-cins. It was a realistic and pragmatically courageous approach.

Notwithstanding all the negative hype, back then Labour used its new way of doing international relations to rid Malta of its dependence on the then defence-economy, and gave the country an identity that it had never had, as an independent and non-aligned state, proud of what it was and forward-looking. The success was such that, by the time the last British Navy ship left our harbours in 1979, for the first time in its history Malta had its own economy under its own control. More importantly, this was not just a “political screen”, but the Maltese were truly enjoying a standard of living that working families could only dream of before.

It is on these sound foundations that last week Labour presented its draft vision statement for Malta’s foreign relations and activity, named Malta’s Future Role In Foreign Affairs: Proactive and Dynamic. In the very preamble of this document, the significant assertion made outright is that the party’s vision is that Malta, although small, can contribute significantly in various niches within the parameters of its membership of the EU.

Foreign relations for the Labour Party does not only mean the traditional activities of political diplomacy, but also encompasses diverse activities in the different spheres of commerce, information technology, culture and the exchange of citizens. For Labour, foreign relations, together with finance and information technology, are three horizontal structures on which to develop a modern national management.

More importantly, Labour is of the opinion that Malta’s international relations should be both proactive and dynamic, and should essentially be driven by the desire to obtain concrete benefits for the improvement of the quality of life of Maltese families.

The document further reiterates, once again, that Malta should maintain the notion of neutrality, also acknowledging our geographic and political realities. The vision statement also emphasises the importance of our relations with neighbouring states in the Mediterranean, such as Libya, Tunisia and other Arab nations, without in any way diminishing our role as a European Union member state.

Indeed, Labour is committed that, in the context of its membership of the EU, it will still continue striving to enhance its economic, commercial and cultural relations with other large states, such as the United States, Russia and China. The document also explores various possible initiatives aimed at maintaining contact with Maltese communities in Canada, United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Needless to say, our commitment towards brokering peace in the Middle East remains paramount, as was also evidenced during the Labour administration of 1996 – 1998.

A “Proactive and Dynamic” document indeed – something that is true not only of this vision statement, but of all the other documents upon which Labour is building its vision of being not merely an alternative government, but a better one.

[email protected]

Dr Michael Falzon is the MLP Deputy Leader for Party Affairs