So the earthquake within the Labour Party is on! They have already changed their name. But that is far from enough. At least even the word Labour has to go. The Malta Labour Party (MLP) has had such an evil past that the word Labour sends shivers down our spines. Rightly or wrongly the word Labour brings back ugly memories of all sorts of evil: violence, discrimination, arrogance, dictatorship, police state, political prisoners, political violence, political torture, political murders, all sorts of quarrels and confrontation...

Think of Nardu Debono, Lino Cauchi, Anthony Mifsud Cardona, Raymond Caruana, Karen Grech, the Vella brothers, Gaffarena, Pietru Pawl... This is not an isolated and unfortunate incident but an endless list of atrocities, all sorts of atrocities, perpetrated during successive Labour administrations. All the above is very well documented.

Neither is this a modern malady like Aids. More than 60 years ago, the first post war general election was held. The Nationalist Party (PN) was in disarray and the MLP won comfortably with 24 out of 40 seats. And yet they could not govern for more than three years! Dom Mintoff managed to split the party and for the following years Malta had to be governed by weak minority and coalition governments.

Then in 1955, the MLP, led by Dom Mintoff and clamouring for integration with Britain, won the absolute majority. Ironically, while several colonies were fighting tooth and nail for independence from Britain, Dom Mintoff was doing exactly the opposite and it was only natural that the UK government did everything in its power to help Dom Mintoff win the election.

The PN who had been fighting for some form of independence since its foundation, opposed Dom Mintoff’s idea of integration and the seeds of political violence and intimidation were sown. The PN could not hold any political meetings nor indoor conferences. And when the Referendum was held, Labour activists had the legal right to accompany the voters and so know how a particular person was voting. You could refuse such help, but you could do that at your own risk.

Anyway, for some reason or other the honeymoon between the UK government and the Labour government finished on the rocks. To stay on good terms with Dom Mintoff is not easy... unless you do what he wants you to do. Discussions between the two governments broke down, Dom Mintoff resigned and, as usual, violence followed. And thanks to Labour, Malta lost its constitution and passed under the direct control of the UK government.

A general election was held in 1962 and it was won by the PN who immediately asked for independence which, as we all know, was granted in 1964. During this period the Labour Party quarrelled with everyone. Even with the General Workers’ Union!

After seven years of prosperity under Nationalist governments, the MLP won the general elections held in 1971. And that was the end of all our prosperity and our peace of mind. The word Labour began to be associated with all sorts of evil.

The pity is that after 20 years of progress and prosperity under successive Nationalist governments, we may begin to take everything for granted and think that Malta has always been like that. Certainly not. My final advice to the MLP: dismantle the party, destroy your headquarters, make the sign of the cross and found a new party. Definitely not a Labour party. Then, perhaps, we will give you a chance.

Giov. DeMartino

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