Labour MEP Joseph Muscat yesterday formally announced that he would be contesting for the leadership of the Malta Labour Party.

Many names have been touted, including George Abela, Anglu Farrugia, Michael Falzon, Marie Louise Colerio Preca and others – yet it is the name of Joseph Muscat that is sending waves of optimism through the ranks of the MLP.

Dr Muscat is 34, so he is young, yet that is exactly what MLP supporters see as being his strength, particularly in contesting the next general election and attracting the younger vote, as well as the floaters. This, coupled to his stance in favour of EU membership, should endear him to the younger generations up to the age of 30 who so eagerly flocked to the PN last time round.

Dr Muscat is no stranger to politics. He is a Labour MEP and has been very active at committee and parliamentary level in Brussels, enjoying the respect of his PN counterparts, as well as those who form the EP.

He served as education secretary of the MLP between 2001 and 2004. In 2003, he played a crucial role as chairman during the MLP general conference that overturned the party’s decision to one being in favour of EU membership after the general election of that year. With 36,985 votes, he was the Labour candidate who garnered most votes at the European Parliament election in 2004. As have many political leaders, he was also the editor of a newspaper, albeit online, the Maltastar.

It does not take rocket science to figure out that if the MLP has any chance at all of winning the next election, it must truly break with the past. There are far too many elements within the party that were close to, or involved in the Mintoffian era of government politics and the dark days of the 1980s. There are few within the party who can offer such and Joseph Muscat is one of them.

Dr Muscat also has another side to his game – apart from being a very astute politician, he also has a pleasing smile and a good “bedside” manner. One only has to look at Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to see that such a mix is indeed a winning formula. One cannot say that Dr Muscat will have it all plain sailing, in fact, one cannot even presume that he will be elected leader – but the feeling in the Labour camp is that he is the only one that can do it.

The MLP might hate the fact that it’s pointed out, but Dr Muscat can give them the bidu gdid (fresh start) that the party so badly needs and deserves. The MLP has for far too long based its policies on opposition for opposition’s sake and negativity. Dr Muscat might just provide the elements that will allow the party to look forward rather than back.

As already mentioned, most other members carry too much baggage and will remind both the MLP grassroots and potential voters of the party’s past.

Whoever is elected will have the mammoth task of rebuilding the party from the bottom up, a policy which Dr Muscat has already said will be of paramount importance if he is elected leader. The country has suffered as a result of stagnation within both the government and the opposition. If the photo-finish election served one purpose, it has been to wake both political parties from slumber and that a revamp and modernisation is what the public wants, and more importantly, deserves.