The announcement of Joseph Muscat’s resignation as Labour leader and Prime Minister shocked many genuine Labourites. They had believed that following the unprecedented victory he won in the 2017 election, Muscat deserved to continue leading the Labour Party till the next general elections and beyond.

The decision he had himself taken not to stay in government for more than two mandates and developments regarding the ongoing investigations into the murder of Mrs Caruana Galizia account for his departure.

The truth is that he made a huge contribution to the party and the country. As he himself admitted, he made mistakes. The worst one no doubt was that he remained oblivious... or so it seemed... to the fall out from the Panama papers scandal.

Even so, despite this, I believe that on balance his  record is greatly positive – which applies both to the economic momentum he generated in the country as a whole, as well as to the social reforms he propelled forward. Those achievements will continue to benefit the citizens of today and tomorrow.

***

MEANWHILE...

During coming weeks, I would not be too surprised if efforts will be made to sow uncertainty by triggering incidents meant to destabilize the government.

In any event, the response to such efforts, if they actually occur, must continue to be calm. Care should be taken by all not to let provocations succeed in making people lose control.

For long years, that was the cardinal mistake made by Labour supporters. Their adversaries were skilled in projecting themselves as victims. Subterraneously... at times openly... they would explore ways of setting up confrontation. So, they succeeded in raising the temperature while confirming their image as victims. As they impressed  more and more people by this show, they would then jack up their mobilisation.

It would be stupid to allow such tactics to successfully come again into play in the coming weeks.

***

THOSE AGAINST

When a controversial issue flares and gets everybody wound up, it becomes  necessary to take one’s bearings. On the one hand, you naturally would like to believe in and support the political group to which you belong. On the other hand, there is the wish to understand and consider seriously the facts brought forward relating to any given controversy.

A problem arises in the case of allegations made by people who are not, or have not been, objective regarding  an issue, not least because they are wellknown as militants of the opposing party – which has a vested interest to throw all the muck it can at its adversaries.

So the temptation becomes that of discarding all “facts” alleged by such sources. They come to be considered as just a partisan play.

That’s a mistake.

All allegations made by no matter which source – whether genuine or fake – should be investigated. Yes, this might make certain people believe that once an allegation is being  examined, then there must be some truth to it. It’s a risk that had best be taken on board.