No matter which facet of Labour one chooses to look at, one cannot but get ambiguity at its best.

Last spring when the elections were over and the Labour Party found itself looking for a new leader, it was hoped that it was an opportune time for the party to take its time, find the ideal candidate and elect him to lead it towards a possible victory in the future. A number of candidates came forward but the playing field was anything but even. The secretary general erased all doubts when he ranted against a candidate named George Abela, on public television.

We all know what ensued and who eventually won the leadership race. Without taking anything away from Joseph Muscat, one has to come to the conclusion however, that the younger man has put the PL at least another election away from victory. That would put the Labour party 30 years from the last full term in office and that is not including the last term which was considered to be anything but a Labour victory.

As if that was not enough, Joseph (as he wants us to call him) made a statement which he may yet regret to have made – that he was opening the doors of the party to invite anyone at all who was previously alienated or even kicked out from the party. In the meantime while coming up with slogans such as “New beginning” and “New way of doing politics”, the party elected two deputy leaders who were anything but new meaning that they brought with them a lot of old baggage and for the cherry on the cake re-elected Jason Micallef as secretary general on whose shoulders much of the blame for the last defeat, was placed.

I believe that Joseph is indeed trying hard to change the image of the PL and all that which it is trying to portray itself as, so much so that he appointed a media ethics commission to advise him regarding the managing of RadioOne and OneTV. Among those chosen to serve is Peppi Azzopardi who runs the most popular show on national television. On his show he invites all kinds of characters from every aspect of public and private lives. One recent show which he hosted featured the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader. The two debated current affairs and for the most part it was a civil affair with not too many barbs exchanged between the two guests.

Now everyone knows that no matter what, in a situation like this someone had to be declared the winner, so through a very unscientific poll Dr Gonzi was declared the winner. Debate over – case closed? Not a chance. One of Joseph’s deputy leaders foamed at the mouth and wrote a full page condemnation of the show host who sits on the media ethics commission of the PL itself and accused him of being biased!

There are many more facets which I would like to get into but space is restricted, although from the foregoing it is clear that the Labour Party has not changed much and if it did, it probably moved a bit backwards even with the charisma of its new leader trying hard to sever the past from the future.

This party seems to be saying one thing but in fact does exactly the opposite. It compounds errors by not only not rectifying them but worse, to declare that they were not and anyone else with a different opinion is wrong.

To sum it up, the new beginning was anything but. The return of the old timers the whole island was desperately trying to forget, were given new roles and a new lease on life. The “new” deputy leaders are old, tried and tired. The secretary general, who after the election loss was vilified, was re-elected. The TV host who sits on an PL appointed commission on media ethics was called “a two bit nincompoop” by the party’s deputy leader.

The PL fails to understand that besides looking and sounding good, it needs to act in a consistent manner and not make up policy on the run. It has to gain the respect of the public and not rely solely on those who are ready always to be led blindly by the party because to them loyalty is above all else. It has to win over the floating voter who in recent years has become more educated and sophisticated and with many more young persons going for tertiary education fooling them will be even more difficult than ever before.

It is a matter of trust.

J. Martinelli

London, Ontario

Canada