Alfred Sant has taken full responsibility for the Malta Labour Party’s third consecutive defeat in a general election. He has resigned, and there is no chance that he will change his mind as he had done five years ago, when he had re-contested the post for the leadership after having announced that he would have called it a day.

Dr Sant, of course, did the right thing in taking responsibility. As head of his party, he was responsible for spearheading the MLP towards yet another disappointment. For a party that has lost the last three elections, and has been able to gain the highest number of votes in national polls only once since 1981, it was another poor showing.

The defeat is, of course, marginal, but at the same time exposes the MLP’s inability to offer itself as a valid alternative to a government that has been in office for two decades, except for 22 months. Ironically, Labour had much more to lose in this last election than the Nationalist Party did, and by actually losing it, the party has fallen to unprecedented depths. The party’s morale has never been so low.

But Dr Sant should not be the only man to take responsibility for the MLP’s failure to convince the people that it is a better choice.

In the weeks preceding the election, the MLP tried to ridicule the PN for opting for a one-man battle. The MLP repeatedly mocked the PN for its “gonzipn” label, and portrayed itself as a team.

Dr Sant himself frequently referred to the MLP as such, and the party made it manifestly clear that it was not interested in a kind of “presidential” race, which was the preferred option for its major political adversary. MLP deputy leader for party affairs Michael Falzon also frequently spoke about the party as being “Labour United”.

But this “Labour United” concept quickly evaporated when it started to become clear that the MLP had lost the election.

For one thing, Dr Falzon found himself alone at the counting hall in Naxxar – save for the presence of MLP president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi – as the other MLP deputy, Charles Mangion, and secretary general Jason Micallef rushed to the party headquarters to, in their words, “explain the situation in detail to party leader Alfred Sant, who was by

himself”.

While Dr Mangion and Mr Micallef were doing so, Dr Falzon had to face the music publicly, in front of the TV cameras, and must be commended for the way he handled the situation. It must have been a difficult time for him, especially when he had to

concede defeat, but the way he tackled it – especially his embracing of PN secretary general Joe Saliba when it was all over – deserves praise.

On the other hand, Mr Micallef went in front of the cameras only when a Labour victory was still possible, and wrongly predicted that a party had obtained an absolute majority, with a kind of behaviour that strongly hinted that at that point he was thinking that Labour had won.

The buck does not stop with Alfred Sant’s resignation. It should not stop there. If the MLP is really the team that it said it was in the run-up to the election, Dr Sant cannot be the only one to take responsibility.

The people who surrounded him and supported him all throughout, those who advised him on what to say and what to do, those who were closest to him in matters of strategy, all have to carry part of the blame for Labour’s defeat. Where are these people now?

The question that needs to be asked now is this – will Dr Sant be the only one to resign? Will MLP delegates, who must be shattered after being told over and over again that Labour would have won, demand that more top party officials should consider their position?

We have to wait and see.