From Mr V. Camilleri

I cannot remember so much premature excitement for an election that is due in five years’ time. The reason is obvious. The Malta Labour Party is still in internal election mode to elect its new leadership in two weeks’ time and its administration a few months later. Labour voters and the country are understandably anxious to know who will be the person leading the party to face the electorate in 2013.

Labour is lucky to have five valid contenders in the race for the post of leader.

The collective credentials of George Abela, Evarist Bartolo, Marie Louise Coleiro-Preca, Michael Falzon and Joseph Muscat are a rich mixture of political experience, vision, initiative and electoral appeal. This gives Labour delegates a very difficult task to choose just one of these contestants to lead their party hopefully to electoral success next time around.

The results of the survey on the Labour leadership race published in your edition of Sunday 25 May coincided with the publication of the Labour Party’s commissioned report analysing the reasons of its defeat in the March general election. The two make very interesting reading and they are in certain ways related to each other. Labour’s report cries out for a renewal, reform and rejuvenation in its set up and the way it does politics. It also lists a number of reasons for the defeat and mentions its failure to attract young and first time voters as one of them. It is estimated that 32,330 new voters were eligible to vote last March and it is an undisputed fact that the Nationalist Party won the biggest part of this vote. It is also estimated that in 2013 there will be around 100,000 voters aged between 18 and 35. It is clear therefore that one of the biggest challenges facing the new leader elected on 5 June is to sway this electoral segment in Labour’s favour.

Your survey of 25 May gave Joseph Muscat a lead with 73.46 per cent in respect of his appeal to young voters. Another survey carried by MaltaToday on Sunday 4 May put Joseph Muscat the top favourite for voters aged 18 to 34 with 49 per cent, a clear 23-point lead on the second favourite George Abela. These surveys speak loud and clear. If Labour wants to capture the crucial vote of new and young voters, the delegates have no other choice but to elect Joseph Muscat. At 35, Joseph has a finger on the pulse of young first time voters still studying or entering the labour market; he speaks their language and has first hand knowledge of the problems and aspirations of young couples raising a family.

Joseph Muscat’s appeal to young voters is not his only asset. The results he obtained in his four-year stint as a member of the European Parliament speak for themselves. He was instrumental for the groundbreaking reduction in roaming charges of mobile telephony in the EU, the campaign to phase out the vehicle registration tax to be substituted by an emissions contribution in line with EU regulations, and the abolition of the licence fee on satellite dishes.

But above all, Joseph Muscat is presenting himself for Labour’s leadership with a clean bill of political health, an important attribute needed in a leader who would be able to guide Labour in its search for unity and harmony. If one week is a long time in politics, five years should be more than enough for Joseph Muscat to make Labour electable in 2013. He has the drive, the energy and the will to achieve this objective.

Vincent Camilleri

MOSTA