DAVID LINDSAY

Malta Labour Party leadership candidate Joseph Muscat unveiled a 40-point plan yesterday morning proposing wide-ranging changes within the party and its structures to create what he describes as a “new political era for the country”.

The proposals would see, among a host of other changes, the party becoming truly inclusive, positive, delivering a clear message, being in continuous contact with the people, reorganising itself and its finances as well as fostering and embracing new ideas.

Going over the 40-point plan yesterday, Dr Muscat said the party needed to make better use of its finances and update its structures so as to render itself more responsive to current and future needs, while at the same time becoming more inclusive in order to attract the country’s moderate and progressive elements.

“On 5 June, it should not simply be a choice of names,” Dr Muscat told a press conference yesterday. “This is a debate of vision and ideas. This is a time in which Labour has to choose which direction it wants to take and what role it wants in our society.”

After having made his leadership bid official on 24 March, Dr Muscat is now upping the campaign’s tempo with the publication of his electoral platform yesterday. He is also to begin holding a series of public meetings, the first of which will be in Birzebbuga on Friday.

The proposals tabled yesterday, all of which he said are up for discussion, would be primarily financed by way of a relocation of the party’s existing resources. One of the major problems within the party, Dr Muscat said yesterday, is the use of its finances, an area where the party, under Dr Muscat’s leadership, would involve experts from the financial sector.

Transparency in the accounts of Malta’s political parties is another issue Dr Muscat said he believes needs to be treated with urgency and, along these lines, he said it was “high time” the Galdes report (drafted over 12 years ago) is seriously considered.

On the possibility of the MLP extending the leadership vote, to be taken on 5 June, from its 900 delegates to the party’s entire paid-up membership base, Dr Muscat said he was happy to contest the election under either scenario, as Dr Abela said last Sunday.

Dr Muscat said he had received hundreds of e-mails from MLP supporters as well as non-supporters encouraging him in his leadership bid.

If not elected to the party’s helm in June, Dr Muscat pledged he would nevertheless continue to work for the party so that it becomes a real alternative for the country.

Among the multiple issues tabled yesterday, Dr Muscat said that closest to his heart was the proposal for an “ideas forum”, set up by means of both virtual and real public fora and think tanks to review existing and propose future party policies, where all individuals would be able to put forth their ideas and suggestions to the party.

The party would also embrace its grass roots through a policy of continual contact at local level as well as with non-governmental organisations, the business community, overseas Maltese communities and a specific project for the Gozitan community. The proposal would also see the establishment of a call centre that would receive proposals for the party from the public at large.

Dr Muscat has also proposed updating the party’s statute and structures to better serve its current and future needs. Among the proposals up for discussion in the area is that party assemblies are given a statutory dimension and opened to members.

The remit of party general conferences, meanwhile, would be broadened through meetings of delegates to debate policies, while also being addressed by spokespersons from a variety of sections of society as well as foreign experts.

Dr Muscat also sees a more central role for local councillors within the party’s structures and its decision-making processes. Dr Muscat has proposed a new spot in the party’s administration directly responsible for coordinating councillors’ work. The party’s Local Committee, meanwhile, should also be placed as the focal point of the party’s involvement with the community.

The revision of the party’s statute, carried out by a specifically set up commission, Dr Muscat said, would be given priority in the first year of work if he is elected to the party’s helm.

Among Dr Muscat’s proposals is the creation of a permanent think tank to examine the party’s role in society, creating a parliamentary group and national executive advised by technical experts from different sectors, and establishing a dialogue with the government that places the national interest before all else. This, he said, would be done on the basis that the party represents half the population, which needs to be both respected and consulted.

The party, Dr Muscat proposed, would become a dedicated member of the family of European Socialist parties and one that appeals to progressive and moderate elements within the country. Along these lines, Dr Muscat proposed a “national reconciliation” with other political and non-political parties over past political controversies.

The party, he said, needed to deliver a clear message. The party needed to develop a strong Internet presence, set up a working group to analyse and review the party’s media machinery, consider the setting up of a second radio presence specifically for the young voters segment, and involve academics and veterans from other sectors to be involved in how and what the party publishes and broadcasts.

A code of ethics, Dr Muscat argued, should also be drafted and applied to the party’s media outlets, while a director of communications should be tasked with coordinating the messages coming from the party, while a marketing unit would coordinate the party’s public image.

Dr Muscat has also proposed reorganising the party in such a way that its strategic structures and administration become more significant and relevant than they are today. In this area, Dr Muscat has proposed the appointment of a human resources director ensuring the most effective use of the party’s employees and volunteers, a unit of financial professionals, an MLP representative to the EU, a unit focusing on EU programmes and a social dialogue unit to work with civil society and non-governmental organisations.

A new policy unit, comprised of experts and politicians, would meanwhile coordinate the party’s policies, while a “forum of candidates” would meet regularly with the party’s leadership and party spokespeople on specific subjects.

Dr Muscat’s proposals would also see the MLP becoming a “party of opportunities” for all citizens looking to widen their personal horizons. The party would help to provide training by experts, even from overseas through its contacts with progressive parties around the world. The proposal would also see the party offering bursaries, particularly in European institutions, for young people.

Dr Muscat is also proposing to improve on the party’s environmental credentials to bring it in line with European norms through a review of environmental and energy practices at its headquarters, which would in turn serve as a pilot project for future practices at party clubs across the islands. MLP local councillors would also be encouraged to adopt environmentally friendly practices in the communities they represent.