The top qualities to expect from the new Labour leader in action will be transparency, accountability and prudence. Matters that derive from the public interest cannot be run as if they related to private business. It is true that in past decades, since public services have been hived off into corporations and agencies modelled on private sector organizations, the tendency has increased for public services to be considered as if they were private units. No only in Malta but wherever this happened.

Still, what is done inside such units is part of the public domain and people should be informed in time and prudently regarding what is going on, while responsibilites are acknowledged and assumed publicly. True, the old procedures of the civil service – or many of them – have turned into bureaucratic obstacles, given that the conditions for which they were designed have changed drastically.

But the aims behind those procedures remain valid. And it is still important to ensure that such aims are met. As necessary, control procedures should be amended but surely they should not just be abandoned or ignored as if they have no value. Whoever is “on top” must ensure then that one and all are respectful of the need for proper accountability.

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SO OBVIOUS

It was obvious that many of the themes which the non-Labour media chose for their news items these past weeks were selected with one aim in mind – that of creating difficulties in the election process for a new labour leader. (It was obvious too that the Labour and Labour leaning media did their best to maintain a clear, impartial line. I believe that in this they succeeded.)

I would not say that news items were chosen and managed with the aim of giving an advantage to one of the contestants. I think the focus was more on the possibility that items could create confusion or embarrassment within Labour, now or in the future.

Despite the turmoil of the past weeks, many still believe that the PN cannot yet offer a serious political challenge to the PL. For this to happen, the latter must be weakened first. With the confusion or embarrassment media houses wished to stir, they hoped to make a step in that direction.

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WHILE WAITING

In the run-up to this weekend’s Labour Party election, I met quite a number of party veterans with memories that go back to other similar events. One of them could actually recall ... as a memory from long ago when he was still a boy... the challenge that had arisen in the late 1940s between Dom Mintoff and Paul Boffa which led to the famous – if that’s the right word for it ... LP “split”.

The effort needed to organize today the leadership election in the format of a congress that brings together all current members of the party is much much more complicated than the one needed in the past when only delegates could vote. Much more endeavour is also required to get things done.

Still, one curious comment I heard was the following: When intense activity is needed that is also time consuming and must be done well, you’ll find that it’s the oldtimers you can count upon as willing volunteers to do the work. Younger fellows prefer to stay away. How true  is this?