The commandment has been revealed by the new leader of Malta’s Labour Party. He loves the Labourites. He urged them to love each other. Most of all he urged them to love those who have been lost along the way. Joseph Muscat chose to couch his first speech in biblical metaphors. There’s talk of the lost sheep, of love, peace and unity, there’s understanding, there’s a new path and there was even space for repentance. It’s easy fodder for columnists who have until now just about shied away from comparing Muscat to a messiah – after all the Maltese word for leader “Mexxej” – does not fall too far short of reminding us of the prophets who led the chosen people to the promised land. True, it may border on the heretical, but it is a strong imagery – one that has been sealed in the mind of generations upon generations and does not need some guidebook to decipher it.

It’s early days yet. Joseph might be warning gonziPN that their honeymoon is over but his own has only just begun. You would not say so, considering the columns and posts of criticism dedicated to Joseph over the past week. To be fair, some praise was to be had from some unexpected quarters – his blue colleagues at the EP wrote good recommendations regarding his track record in Brussels. Let’s face it – much as you may dislike the image, he’s been hard at work to undo the track record he had on the EU when still under the wing of Doctor Sant. Whether the Damascene conversion (pardon the biblical allusion) comes to full fruition remains to be seen – even Joseph is probably aware that the proof of the pie is in the eating. Which is not how the party spin machines are prone to think. The big, fat dossier entitled “Character Assassi-nation” is being compiled in full force by the spinmeisters. Joseph’s faux pas of the past are already out to haunt him and if it’s the votes of the undecided and flagging Nationalists that he wants to “go out and get” then it would seem that he will have much outing and getting to do. So with a tune from the other ginger-haired man (full beard though) let’s see what this week has shown us...

What would you think if I sang out of tune?

The image of Michael Falzon growling with the lions has barely faded from our memory when in steps Joseph with a panto performance to remember. To call the miming of the words of hymns like some reborn technicolour Marcel Marceau corny would be an understatement. Maybe the lad was carried away by the wave of enthusiasm that gripped the Centru Nazzjonali, just maybe. Thing is that scenes like this are best forgotten, hopefully replaced by an improved delivery. Much as he might love to draw parallels, Joseph Muscat is no Barack Obama. Orations are definitely not his forte – at least not insofar as the crowd outside the CNL are concerned. Those endless pauses, those melodramatic serious faces turning into too candid a smile – thank god for the Euro 2008 matches for alternative entertainment – many must have zapped away from this embarrassing moment as the anointed one came to terms with his new shoes.

Image can be worked on. Posters can be photo-shopped and a patient leader can be instructed in the way of the media. His eagerness to step into the limelight must be curtailed somehow. Politicians do not crave every moment to be in front of a camera and spout clichés and empty slogans (at least most of them don’t). Access to cameras is cheap nowadays – and a genuine sense of gravitas is what is needed to build a respectful image.

I’ll try not to sing out of key

Joseph tried to transplant bits of Labour’s history back into the mainstream. This quickly and predictably prompted a columnist free-for-all. As a non-affiliated voter I can truly say that Muscat’s toying with Labour’s past does not hit a sympathetic vein. For example, Labour did not invent hospitals. True, Maltese voters have been groomed to accept the obvious political developments in our country as some great achievement – I for one was hoping we would not hear more of the same.

I am sure that many at the CNL loved the symphony of Mintoffian pride that emanated from the Messianic mouth, just as I am told that the members of the quasi-derelict Partit Komunista Malti still cling to the busts of Marx and a plethora of Sino-Soviet leaders in some stuffy office in Valletta. That Joseph still has to play that tune is an indicator of the slow pace of change.

This is no radical reinvention but a conscious choice to lull the old guard into a sense of security. I call it playing with fire. There can be no innocent change without a battle – even good old Marx will tell you a bit about that one. Somehow the Labour mindset still hopes to have their cake and eat it. Who will write the message on the wall for the next Daniel to read? “Old Labour does not get elected. It does not work”. Change or be damned.

It’s not the Nationalist crowd that’s telling you that Joseph. It’s the polls, the surveys and the thousands who did not turn up to vote. It’s the “nose-peggers” who voted Nationalist on the basis of the “lesser evil” argument. Oh, the Nationalist apologists are already cheerfully rampant with the idea that another lamb has been produced for the slaughter. It’s hard, I know, to reshape old habits, old customs and old ideas. The delegates and the party machinery have not helped much. The luggage of over 10 years in the political limelight backing the very system you are supposed to change does not give you the best CV to convince the necessary “others”. Which is why the trek is long and hard and requires much, much more substance than the voters have been promised until now.

On my blog I have criticised the vitriolic naysayers who have criticised the goatee, the long trousers, the choice of words, the miming of the hymns – the works. I do not believe that Joseph can escape his past but I will test him on that one by his actions and not his looks. There is no doubt that certain attitudes will betray weaknesses and show lack of conviction.

What Labourites need to understand is that there are voters like myself who do not have blind faith the moment the new leader is anointed – and who take reasoned convincing. Yes, we’re that irritating (and oh so immature) part of the electorate who expect politicians to convince us and do not fall for the mudslinging matches and snazzy photo-shopped posters with plagiarised election slogans.

With a little help from my friends

That could be the ticket. The change in Labour that many people are expecting has to start from within. The attitude, the image, and above all the policy. We have heard much talk of unity and love but little about substance. So Joseph will not hinder attempts to keep ST Microelectronics? About effing time isn’t it? That, my friend (as you like to say), is an obvious step. So Joseph promises a vigilant Opposition that will make sure PN keeps its promises? What’s new pussycat? It’s still Stil Manigerjali as far as I am concerned. So there will be committees and sub-

committees? We will patiently wait for the first policies, the first ideas and the first indication of what New Labour means. Please stop handing us this oxymoron on a plate: “Progressive and Moderate” – which one will it be, Joseph? Methinks until now the signs are all for the “opportunist” – read “vote-catching” which is not the formula that has got the PN where it is today. It just won’t do.

Someone else has already written this but there is no harm in reminding Joseph. To win the election, Labour does not have to become as good as and as convincing as the Nationalists. On a head to head fight people will prefer the tried and tested any day. The challenge is to be better. And to be better means to have a plan. Notwithstanding what many organisers in Pieta and Hamrun seem to think, people are not half as stupid and gullible as campaigns make them out to be.

Would you stand up and walk out on me?

Well Joe Debono Grech has. His daughter followed suit. Until the late 19th century, doctors gave great value to bloodletting in the healing process. Nowadays the main role of what is called phlebotomy is in blood transfusions. The infusion of new blood can be life-saving in many situations and though party politics should never be a matter of life or death, there is no harm in using this metaphor. Having said that, one must point out that the exercise of change seems pointless without a political point of reference. There is no other explanation for the current mini-haemorrhage except for a clash of personalities.

It is clear that the fidelity of the defectors lies elsewhere. They are not quitting the party on principle because a principle we do not have... yet. This too is a sad consequence of the excessive light thrown on the importance of the party machinery – a

battle which is far from over, considering the results of Thursday’s round of votes for deputies.

Fickle defectors should be allowed to defect in peace – the less importance given to them and what they stand for the better. They can only lead to clumsy attempts to encompass the old with the new, creating a hydra with many an Achilles heel (apologies for the hodgepodge classical references). You know what they say... with friends like these....

What do you see when you turn out the light?

What I am saying, in essence, is that the early crusade of Character Assassination is premature to say the least. The electorate must never let down its guard of course and Joseph Muscat is no green politician but someone with a track record to answer for. Right now however the main business is the party and its struggle for change from within. I am more comfortable assessing that stage with the full knowledge that I will be there to assess the change outside later on.

The early signs are baby steps – a half-hearted

apology (accompanied by a bumbled request for a par condicio apology for the times of Mortal Sin and Voting), the will to build a team and to

listen, the first venture of interaction with the government. There is no time for Joseph and Labour to make mistakes – all eyes are on his party.

Those of us who expect a change in the way of doing politics in Malta have banked a good number of chips on this next step. This precisely means that the battle is far from won – lose it this time round and return to the benches of the eternal has-beens.

Love you and leave you

One leader on his way out is Harry. His sterling work for AD has moved it from pressure group to party mentality. He has not been all that gracious in defeat this time around and found time, like Falzon, to criticise the report (which outsiders had, in their turn, criticised for not being sufficiently anti-Harry – that’s MLPN for you). Probably Arnold will be the new leader when you read this. AD too needs much reinventing and soul-searching. They risk becoming a weaker version of the UK Lib-Dems – good enough to flirt with but not strong enough to vote for. My advice would be to concentrate on a social pact for electoral reform – reasoned through conviction and outside the zero-sum game of party politics as we know it.

A last note. I profoundly apologise for not having even tackled the subject of the Irish Referendum –

partial results show the No vote ahead. This is much more import-ant than any leadership race at the moment and will have an impact on the lives of each and every one of us. More about that next week.

Until then remember... I love you too... each and every one of you!

Jacques blogs daily at

http://jaccuse.wordpress.com. Comment is free.