For months, there has been speculation that Joseph Muscat will make a return to politics.

To say that this would be problematic for incumbent Prime Minister and Labour leader Robert Abela would be a gross understatement. Abela knows that a Muscat return would upstage him. He probably fears such a development.

Muscat himself fuelled this speculation when, a few months back, he said during a court sitting that “if they continue to annoy me, I do not exclude it”.

A return to politics is backed not only by Labour diehards in droves, but also some Cabinet members, as well as Party exponents like Jason Micallef and Manuel Cuschieri, who urged supporters to take to the streets in support of their former leader after his Burmarrad house was raided by the police as part of a corruption inquiry.

Muscat did, however, rule out contesting the next general election or making a future bid for Party leader.

This, however, is of no comfort to Abela, who knows that he never enjoyed the cult status of Joseph Muscat – the man who returned Labour to glory and government – and probably never will.

Muscat was on Friday given the opportunity to quell this speculation and put his Party leader’s mind at rest that he is not planning a comeback. Instead, he chose to keep the speculation going by saying he had no further comment to make on the subject, when contacted by this newsroom.

He could have shut the rumours down, but he didn’t. Instead, he left the door open for a possible future return.

Perhaps he really does not exclude making a return at some point. After all, the Labour Party is famous for accepting disgraced politicians back into its fold and giving them new positions. It has already done that with people like Rosianne Cutajar and Justyne Caruana, among others.

At the end of the day, this is a free country, and if Muscat wants to contest again, he has every right to do so. It would then be up to the people to decide his future.

But the fact of the matter is that his non-committal on the issue of a possible return will only contribute further to Abela’s uncertainty about his own future at the helm of the Party and the government. Which is ironic, given that Abela had needed Muscat’s support during the leadership campaign, when Chris Fearne initially had the upper hand. Now, the situation has changed and Abela cannot afford to have Muscat hanging around.

One could also argue that the prospect of a possible Muscat return will only strengthen the Labour vote. We say this because there are many disgruntled Labourites out there who do not see in Abela the same “steadfast” leader they saw in his predecessor. Many of them dislike Abela simply over the fact that he kicked out people like Konrad Mizzi from the Party, and because, in their mind, the PM has not done enough to protect his predecessor, who they feel was unfairly deposed.

Abela, in fact, has had to face the daunting task of trying to distance himself and the government from Muscat’s administration to appease international institutions, while at the same time trying to avoid alienating Labour supporters.

A possible return by Muscat could encourage some people who are currently considering staying at home on polling day to change their minds and go out and vote. In their “worst case scenario”, Abela will remain as Prime Minister. In the “best case scenario”, he could possibly be replaced by Muscat in the near future.

Or perhaps Muscat is not considering a return to Parliament or to the Labour Party. Maybe a return to politics means something different altogether for him and he has other things in mind. Perhaps he is again vying for some prestigious local or international post. Maybe he is being promised something of the sort.

Now, given his reputation abroad after all the happenings of the past five years, an international posting might be unlikely. Muscat will never be accepted in posts such as that now occupied by Roberta Metsola. Any nomination for Muscat to serve in important roles abroad would not end well. It is fair to say it would end in humiliation. Unlike Malta’s Labour Party, the EU’s institutions do not forget things quickly. 

But maybe Abela plans on rewarding Muscat with a position in Malta. This could be a wise move by the Prime Minister, who would not only be appeasing the Party grassroots by thanking Muscat for his service, but he would also be making sure that Muscat poses no threat to his leadership by giving him a role that would neither be linked with the Party nor with the executive. In doing so, Abela would be killing two birds with one stone.