91-year-old former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff was the special guest in George Abela’s hometown Qormi yesterday, during a meeting held less than 40 days before the Malta Labour Party leadership election, a post Dr Abela is contesting.

Greeted by applause by the many Labourites present, the evergreen Dom Mintoff said he was attending the meeting to “see that my colleague becomes the (MLP) leader and wins the next election”.

Dom Mintoff said that “he does what he thinks is good and is not led by the nose”, more so now that he is towards the end of his life.

He said he had dedicated his life towards seeing Malta to be at least as good as other nations.

“I have come here this morning not to see if my colleague is right or not”, but to see that he becomes the leader and wins the next election, Mr Mintoff said.

Mr Mintoff was speaking towards the end of the meeting held by Dr Abela as part of the latter’s campaign to be elected new MLP leader. Mr Mintoff was present from the start but left after making his short address and before Dr Abela started taking questions from the floor.

In his address to the crowd, Dr Abela hit out at the way the leadership post within the MLP was being contested, asking why people inside the party were “afraid of him” and why so much criticism were being levelled against him.

Dr Abela said that yesterday’s meeting happened to fall on the eve of two important anniversaries for Malta; that of 1 May, an affirmation that when united, a workforce is a sign of strength, and the 28 April 1958, when Mintoff was the main protagonist for the Maltese worker to attain what was always yearned through a general strike in protest against the British… rights.

The 1958 occasion was very special and showed that positive results are attained by going down onto the streets and being close to the people. “Unfortunately the union concerned ceases to exist today since the party is divided into factions. But we have to bring the party back to its past and better state. The party’s internal engine is hindering all this,” Dr Abela said.

“We do not want to produce new wine in old barrels but new wine in new barrels: We want best quality wine rather than a product which turns sour and may only be used as vinegar. The party deserves a good product,” the MLP leadership contestant said, adding to Ms Spiteri Debono’s philosophy.

The Labour Party cannot afford to lose another general election and Dr Abela insisted that his leadership bid represented a “new beginning” for the party and the way in which it makes politics. The party’s siege mentality, he said, had to be made a thing of the past. “One wins credibility by telling the truth,” Dr Abela affirmed.

Confrontational politics needed to be put behind the party, which now needs to start criticising arguments rather than attacking individuals, as has been the past practice, he said. For the party to succeed, he said, it also needed to embrace the politics of consensus, where what is good is acknowledged and where the opposition works hand in hand with the governing party in the best national interest.

Explaining his electoral manifesto at yesterday’s gathering, the party’s former deputy leader appealed for a totally inclusive party that marginalises no one and that would “open the doors of the fortress to new people and new ideas”. The MLP must become the electorate’s “natural choice” and eventually the “natural government” of Malta and Gozo.

If not elected Labour Party leader, Dr Abela said he would continue to serve the party and assist its new leader, providing the process is clean.

Referring to his falling out with the party in 1998, Dr Abela said it was regrettable his advice to steer clear of “bad weather” had not been heeded.

Then it had been said that Dr Abela was being led by Mr Mintoff. But Dr Abela insisted that he was no-one’s puppet. “I never was and there is no reason now for me to be,” he said.

But instead of dwelling on the past, he said, “I want to look forward to making the MLP electable so the party wins the next election.”

The MLP, he said yesterday, needed to be able to draw back its voters, including workers and students alike. The electorate should be given the opportunity to improve on what Malta has achieved so far, since “the Nationalist Party by no way has a sole right to govern the country,” George Abela said.

Referring to the party’s organisation and financing, Dr Abela said the party needed to become “serious and efficient” for the good of the entire party and not only to serve factional interests.

As a starting point, Dr Abela proposed the setting up of an independent audit to assess the current state of affairs of the party’s finances. The MLP’s finances, he said, needed to be reorganised to bring them in order, while the party’s different “cost centres” would also be run in a “responsible and accountable” way. He was proposing this, before being elected party leader in order to set off on sound footing.

The party, Dr Abela said, should be in regular contact with its hundreds of volunteer activists to sound out their ideas and to more involve in the party’s

decision-making process.

Dr Abela’s manifesto outlined a set of principles to bind the party, including the statement that the party should always act in the best interests of the country, as a committed member of the European Union.

In terms of public administration, Dr Abela, backed up by Dom Mintoff, argued for a “clean and accountable” leadership of the country so the public service delivered better and for the electorate to develop more trust in the country’s public structures.

Former Speaker of the House, Miriam Spiteri Debono, who introduced the meeting, said Dom Mintoff reminded people of the days when the MLP was victorious. She continued, “The person chosen on 5 June must be the most appropriate to lead the party both internally and externally and able to lead the country”.

“The MLP cannot continue being the Malta opposition party but must choose a leader with a clear direction towards victory”, said the former Speaker.

Dr Abela has returned to contest the MLP leadership position 10 years after having resigned as deputy leader in protest against the party’s choice to go for an early election in 1998, which ended up costing the party dearly at the polls.

Ms Spiteri Debono said that being disassociated with the MLP during the past 10 years, when the party did not satisfy the people, was a positive factor for Dr Abela. The MLP must be united in order to win an election and party affairs must be regulated to promote harmony rather than confusion, she said.

Former MLP secretaries-general Jimmy Magro and Dominic Fenech were also present during yesterday’s meeting.