The Malta Labour Party will be making an important decision on Friday.

Following the presentation of a petition by 122 party delegates a few days ago, the party executive committee met last Friday and agreed to call an extraordinary general conference which is to decide whether the election of the party leader and two deputy leaders will remain, as it is now, a matter for party delegates to vote for, or whether this will be opened up to include party members as well.

The conference will decide whether or not to change the party statute, in time for the 5 and 12 June elections, and for other similar circumstances in the future.

If the party decides to open up the election of its top posts to party paid up members, this will change the scenario in which the June elections will be held. For one thing, the number of voters will increase from the 920 who are entitled to cast their preference at present, to over 19,000 party members.

It will be a completely different ball-game, if the proposal is accepted by the conference, as the five contenders for the post will have more ground to cover in the four weeks that would separate them from the election.

So far, the contenders have concentrated on meeting delegates, although they have also held other meetings with constituted bodies or with the public in general. But being voted for by 19,000 people instead of the 900 makes a big difference, and the contenders will have to find the time to focus on a wider audience.

The five contenders will not be expressing their views on the proposal made during the extraordinary general conference. The official statement issued by the MLP last Friday indicates solely that the five contenders will be placed near each other on the front seats of the main hall.

It is clear, however, that Dr George Abela is very much in favour of opening up the vote to include party members, as he was the first to come up with such an idea soon after the general election was held in March.

Dr Abela, himself a party member but not a delegate, has already overcome a hurdle in his quest to become MLP leader, in that it was initially doubted whether he could contest for the party leadership post. But the MLP election commission later ruled that all party members could contest.

The other contenders – Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca, Evarist Bartolo, Michael Falzon and Joseph Muscat – have, so far, kept back from saying whether they are in favour or against opening up the voting process for the leadership to party members, more or less hinting that they would comply with any decision taken.

This was the reaction expected, as none of them want to be seen as having a position, as this could backfire if the end result was different from what they prefer.

The vote will be taken by secret ballot too, and this means that the party executive committee wants the decision to be taken as fairly as possible and with the least possible pressure. Delegates will find it easier to vote in secret, rather than by a show of hands where any dissent would be visible to one and all.

The MLP is at an important crossroads – and the decision that will be taken on Friday is the most important step that the party will be making before it elects its new leadership.

In a way, the voting pattern in Friday’s election will already give an indication as to where the delegates are leaning.