The Labour Party, and in particular its leader Joseph Muscat had been very quiet during the summer months. Almost quiet enough for people to start thinking that stagnation had set in.

Now, like a bolt out of the blue, Dr Muscat has begun fashioning the party he believes can win the next election and ‘bring about change to Malta’. Various blogs have seen comment upon comment, announcing that Dr Muscat’s earthquake has begun.

We beg to differ. While it is true that the PL has pulled off a coup in securing the services of former PN-leaning commentator Marisa Micallef, at the same time prodding and pushing for Jason Micallef to relinquish the post of secretary general, one can hardly call it an earthquake.

Oh yes, we are sure that Dr Muscat has more up his sleeve and will make more announcements in the near future, but an earthquake it is not. Ms Micallef is a professional known for the hard work she puts into any job. She is an intelligent woman who does have a very good feel of public opinion. We should know, she used to write for this newspaper.

She has joined as a private consultant to Dr Muscat, but some within the PL will not trust her (yet) or believe she can deliver the goods. They will soon change their mind.

But the appointment of Ms Micallef was only the first tremor. It was followed up by the mild aftershock of Jason Micallef announcing his resignation from the post of PL secretary general. For sake of clarity, we will refer to him as Jason (due to the identical surname to Marisa).

All through summer, rumours about fallouts between Dr Muscat and Jason were rife. There were also rumours of him being sidelined and still forcing his way into the decision-making process. It was not a matter of ‘IF’ Jason had to go, but when. Whatever happened during the summer, it created a rift between Jason and the candidate he supported in the run-up to the PL leadership election. To borrow a term, the differences were irreconcilable.

But has Jason been sidelined? One would definitely have to say not. Jason is soon to become the head of One Productions. If there is one area where the PL has been criticised and that the people have not warmed to, it is the news coverage (or the spin put on it) by the Labour media.

The same old faces are there and Jason will not bring about the much-needed change in mentality. One thing is sure, Dr Muscat will definitely have to be called in as a peacekeeper at some point. Marisa is a liberal and a person who has been tasked with capturing the imagination of those who have not voted labour before. In order to do that, she is going to have to bring about change in the Labour media. Not an easy task with the older heads that are there.

One also has to read between the lines in the case of these two appointments. We are sure that although Dr Muscat has been preaching for the need to allow new people to join the party, there will be resistance to Marisa’s appointment. On the other hand, there are those within the party who did not want to see Jason pushed out of the picture. In this manner, Dr Muscat has silenced the pro-Jason camp by giving him a meaningful post within the party’s media, while at the same time securing the services of Marisa. It’s going to be interesting.