It has taken the Malta Labour Party more than six months to complete the full change after the defeat at the last election, but the last chapter of the internal transformation the party has underwent will be written today when Joseph Muscat is appointed Opposition Leader after he is sworn in as an MP.

Since taking over the reins of the party on 6 June, Dr Muscat has been coming and going to Brussels to finalise his last commitments there as an MEP, while at the same time keeping tabs on all that was going on here, making several appearances in public and giving speeches on many local political scenarios.

He resigned the post of MEP last Thursday, and today he will officially become the party leader in the House too. Until today, that post was occupied by former deputy leader for parliamentary affairs Charles Mangion, who had taken over following the resignation of Alfred Sant on the same day that the first round of elections for MLP leader was held.

Dr Mangion has kept a very low profile in his role, keeping it in title only because of constitutional requirements while leaving the whole leadership aspect in the hands of Dr Muscat. As from this evening, Dr Mangion will “only” serve as spokesman for finances.

Dr Muscat’s seat in Parliament is only possible because of the resignation of Joseph Cuschieri, who had been elected to the House following a casual election held to fill up seats vacated by candidates who had been elected in two districts.

Still young but with more than 10 years’ experience in Parliament, Mr Cuschieri was sacrificed by the Labour Party to make way for Dr Muscat. It was not a surprise that he had been chosen by the party to make this move – in late June there had already been speculation in the Nationalist Party media, but it was only on 18 September that it became “official” when the Labour Party presented its members on the various House committees during a meeting of the House Business Committee. Of the six MPs elected through casual election, Mr Cuschieri was the only one who was not given a post, and it was therefore obvious that he was to make way for Dr Muscat.

While Mr Cuschieri was making such a hard decision, others were hoping that the changes in the MLP would work in their favour. Someone now has to replace Dr Muscat as an MEP, with Glen Bedingfield seemingly top favourite to make it when the casual election is held. MPs Joe Debono Grech and Owen Bonnici, Robert Micallef and Wenzu Mintoff were the other MLP candidates in the 2004 EP election.

Earlier, we referred to Dr Muscat’s swearing-in as Opposition Leader as the last chapter of this long-drawn move from MEP to MP, but it is also the first chapter of his new life. Dr Muscat promised a new political season when he was elected, and by and large he has been different from his predecessor, although the Nationalist media thinks otherwise.

From today onwards, Dr Muscat will be wearing two hats. His place in Parliament will be an added impetus for an opposition party that wants to keep the government on its toes. He has made his presence felt outside Parliament ever since he was elected leader nearly four months ago, and there is no doubt that he will be doing the same thing in Parliament too.

Dr Muscat enters the House at a time when the government is preparing for the budget 2009. His baptism of fire will be his reply to the budget speech to be delivered, for the first time, by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech. That speech will say a lot about Dr Muscat’s future as Opposition Leader.