The Malta Labour Party’s annual general conference will be meeting as from tonight in what will be the start of a crucial time for the party in opposition.
It will be the last annual general conference before the election is called, and as such it will serve to finalise all the plans for the party’s campaign as it bids to wrest away the government from the Nationalist Party. The fact that the MLP has been in opposition for 19 of the last 21 years makes it all the more important for the party.
The three motions that will be discussed over three days – today, tomorrow and on Sunday – deal with the family, social welfare and a better standard of living. These will no doubt form the basis of the party’s strategy to try to convince the people that it can lead the country better than the PN is doing. They add up to the “Plan for a new beginning” that the party has drawn up to include all its propositions for Malta’s future.
The party has been preparing for this election for quite a long time, as practically its campaign to return to government started once Alfred Sant was confirmed as leader following the 2003 election defeat. It has prepared document after document to update its policies and is now ready to step up a gear in the weeks separating the country from the polls.
The general conference will of course be important for another matter – it will see the official return of Dr Sant to his position as opposition and MLP leader following a month of recovery after a major surgery.
On Sunday, exactly one month after he underwent an operation to remove a tumour, Dr Sant will be closing the conference with what is probably the most important political speech he has had to deliver as party leader.
Speaking about what he described as a “comeback” in an exclusive interview published yesterday in The Malta Independent, the first one-on-one interview since his operation on 27 December, Dr Sant said that it “will have to be a keynote speech that sets the theme for an electoral campaign. I will be presenting a forward-looking policy, and I will also be making things clear as far as what our options are. We have quite a good policy plan and our priorities have been set”.
Going into further detail, Dr Sant said that the MLP’s priorities will be centred around initiatives in the fields of investment and job creation, improving the country’s competitiveness, especially in the light of Malta’s recent eurozone entry, education, health and environment.
Dr Sant’s performance on Sunday will be watched closely by the Nationalist Party, and some say that it will give Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi the final push to decide when the election will be held. With Dr Sant officially back into politics, there is nothing to stop the Prime Minister from making up his mind and announcing the date.
It will also be watched closely by the people – not those who will be filling up the MLP headquarters’ main hall to greet their leader, as those will be voting Labour anyway – but those who will remain in the comfort of their home to watch his address or learn about it from the media. In particular, the thousands who have still to decide which party they will vote for will be eager to understand what the MLP is planning to deliver and how it will be delivering it.
Although it might still be too early, what Dr Sant will say on Sunday and how he manages to project himself will go a long way in enabling the people to come to a conclusion.