During the interview, Charlon Gouder summarises his decision to contest next May’s European Parliament elections in one sentence.

“First and foremost, I want to become a worthy ambassador of my country at the European Parliament,” he maintains.

Mr Gouder has been involved in the Labour Party since he was a Junior College student some 15 years ago, but has never contested any election until now.

Asked why he felt that this was the time to do so, the former journalist explains that he has long appreciated the contact with the public which his work has provided him with, and after all these years, he now felt it was time for the next step. The decision took weeks to make, but ultimately, he maintains, the encouragement of others led him to accept to bid to serve his party in the European Parliament.

Mr Gouder does not exclude any future involvement in local politics, but when he is asked why he has decided to contest the European elections, he explains that he finds the EP appealing as it brings together two of his interests: local and European politics.

He also notes that his university studies – he is a sixth year law student at the University of Malta – have played a part. The course also covered European studies, and this gave him a greater understanding of the way the EU works.

That his views on the EU have evolved over the years is clear: Mr Gouder admits to voting no in the 2003 referendum on joining the EU. But he insists that his vote was not against the EU, but against Malta joining the bloc at that point in time.

In any case, he adds, EU membership was no longer an issue once the decision was made democratically, through the referendum and the subsequent general election.

After 10 years of membership, Mr Gouder argues, the key issue is to ensure that Malta gets the most out of its EU membership, by maximising the advantages and mitigating the disadvantages that it brings.

“There are good experiences that we can build on, but there are also issues that must, in one way or another, be addressed,” he observes.

How to defend the national interest

Doing so, Mr Gouder insists, requires MEPs who choose to defend the national interest, “and not tar our country’s reputation.”

The reference to the recent EP motion condemning the sale of citizenship and explicitly referring to Malta’s own citizenship-by-investment programme – a motion which was endorsed by the two Nationalist Party MEPs – is clear.

“What we assisted to in the past weeks shames, first and foremost, the PN. I feel that this is not the best approach to bringing your voice forward,” Mr Gouder maintains, adding that this was confirmed when the European Commission reached an agreement with the Maltese government on the programme.

But ultimately, that motion also saw Labour’s four MEPs failing to persuade the Socialist group they form part of to back their stand: only two other Socialist MEPs actually did. So has Labour’s approach proven to be ineffective in garnering influence at the European Parliament?

In this case, Mr Gouder lays the blame squarely on the PN, which, he maintains, engaged in an aggressive campaign overseas, including at the EP. He states that the PN engaged in a deceptive campaign, which was proven to be such when the European Commission approved the citizenship programme.

Mr Gouder insists that there are several other issues which Maltese MEPs should prioritise, mentioning irregular immigration, work, education, health and the environment as examples.

He observes that networking is key when asked how MEPs could ensure that they are influential whilst defending their country’s interest.

But Mr Gouder also stresses that one should not distinguish between European and local issues at the EP when it is pointed out that the most influential MEPs tend to be those who do not focus narrowly on their country’s concerns, but who tend take a more European approach.

“The EP does not decide on issues that are extraneous to the local context; it takes many decisions and pronounces itself of many issues of a European nature which are also important nationally. I see no problem with combining these two concepts together,” he notes.

He argues that having six MEPs in a European Parliament which will have 751 members following the election may be seen as small, but is proportionally large when compared to the country’s size, and could still prove to be influential.

“But it is not enough to act on our own,” Mr Gouder adds, returning to his original argument on MEPs’ role.

“We must utilise the different networks of different political groups, not to tarnish our country’s reputation or to report it to the EU, but to the aid of its interest.”

He emphasises that the “us and them” mentality prevalent in the national parliament does not apply in the EP, and that cooperation should be sought over petty arguments. Collaborating with MEPs in other political groups, he explains, must be the way forward.

PL government ‘doing much more’

Mr Gouder declares himself to be comfortable with all the positions the Labour Party has taken on various issues, stating that there were no divergences he was aware of.

When asked about the Labour government’s performance in the past year, he argues that the starting point with which to assess this government was that in the past 10 months, it managed to achieve far more than the PN did, particularly in the last 10 months of the previous government, which saw the government try to postpone a general election for as long as possible even at the cost of seeing parliament grind to a standstill.

He adds that the government is managing to keep its promises, and welcomed the introduction of legislation aiming to increase political accountability and transparency, including the Whistleblower’s Act, the removal of prescription in cases of political corruption, and the white paper on political party financing.

“This white paper was awaited for years... the PN never had any interest in introducing transparency in politics,” he remarks.

Mr Gouder states that his home visits suggest that the government’s efforts are being appreciated by the public at large.

“Did we do enough? Obviously not. Could we have communicated better? Obviously, we could have communicated more. But when you weigh everything up, you find that the government is sticking to its promises,” he maintains.

Time and money

Mr Gouder’s mention of the white paper on party financing raises another issue: campaign expenditure. The next European election will be governed by the existing lack of regulation, save for a limit on the expenditure made by individual candidates which is set at €18,635 for prospective MEPs.

In 2009, two unsuccessful candidates admitted to spending more than €50,000 in their campaign, and argued that such expenditures were not unusual, even though all successful MEPs declared that they stuck to the limit.

Mr Gouder insists that he certainly will not spending that much, arguing that there were now various means to get one’s message across at a lower cost, including the internet. The party, of course, would itself promote its candidates, including through its own media.

“My campaign is based on keeping in contact with the public. There are several ways to do so, and some of them cost you nothing, except for time,” he maintains.

Finding time does appear to be an issue for someone who not only has to keep a full-time job, but who has to submit his thesis at roughly the same time as the elections.

But Mr Gouder insists that the prospect is doable, attributing this to good time management.

“And unconditional support from my family and my friends,” he adds when pressed further, pointing out that many others are involved in his campaign.

Mr Gouder wouldn’t be drawn on his odds of getting elected, but insisted that he had no problem with the large number of candidates his party is fielding.

“I feel that the wide audience that this team can reach is beneficial to all of us... it is not the number that is important, but the quality.”

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Bio

Charlon Gouder, 31, has been involved in the Labour Party since he was 16, primarily through the party’s media arm One Productions. He started out as a part-time journalist, but ultimately ended up serving as manager of One News.

He has also been involved in a number of other programmes at One, declaring himself to be most proud of his role in producing and presenting documentary series Dossier.

Within the Labour Party, Mr Gouder has also worked at the communications office and has served as a member of the ninth district committee.

Since Labour’s election to government last year, he has been the communications coordinator of the Parliamentary Secretariat for Culture and Local Government. He continues to be involved with One TV, however, as one of the hosts of the Breakfast News programme.

The communications graduate is also studying law at the University of Malta, and is presently in his sixth and final year.