There was an element of euphoria in Labour leader Joseph Muscat’s address on the first day of extraordinary general conference which is being asked to approve a set of amendments to the party statute, aimed to give the party a new look and a better administration with which to face the future.

The party delegates will make their final decision on Sunday, after days of workshops and plenary sessions that will, no doubt, bring about the structural changes that the new party leader has been advocating since his election last June.

Among other matters, the party delegates are being asked to approve a change of name and emblem, the setting up of a national congress that would elect the party leader and attempts to attract more women and young people to the party structures. The Malta Labour Party will also be eliminating the Brigata Laburista and the party’s Vigilance and Disciplinary board.

Taken at face value, the changes being proposed will give the party a much-needed revamp after a rather prolonged difficult period. The MLP has lost three national elections in a row, and it was immediately felt that the party should close a chapter and start afresh. The change in the leadership last June was the first step and it is now being followed up with these changes to the statute.

But these modifications will mean nothing unless they are also accompanied by other changes, probably more difficult ones, that involve the way the party tackles the varying situations that come its way and, more importantly, its policies.

Dr Muscat has, in more ways than one, already proved himself to be a different leader from his predecessor. He promised a new political season and although he has not always been right in his evaluations and interpretations, he does come across as someone who is not afraid to say well done to the government, and this strengthens his credibility when he is then at odds.

Now, Labour must move further ahead. In the past, it has been too often against the flow, fighting battles that were eventually lost and which ultimately cost it election victories. Top of them all is its opposition to the European Union membership, but not only that, so much so that the Nationalist Party labelled it as the party against everything. Very often too, Labour has had to revise its policy on various matters after the people decided against it.

Labour should now work hard to become more of a pro-active party. It should continue to play its role as an opposition, monitoring the government and its workings, but it should also propose its own ideas and develop them. By suggesting new policies, Labour would have a better chance of convincing the people that it is a valid alternative to the party in government.

This can only come about by changing the mentality, and this is probably the largest obstacle that Dr Muscat will have to lead his party to overcome. He will have to persuade the people around him and the party delegates that this is the way forward, because only if this happens it would then be possible to persuade the public at large that Labour has truly changed.

In his address to open the conference, Dr Muscat said that Labour is facing the biggest challenge of recent years. He is probably right, but the result of this challenge will not be known now, but when the people go to vote again some time in 2013. It will only be then that we will know whether Labour has overcome this challenge.