The act of defiance by two Labour MEPs in the vote taken last Tuesday to re-elect Roberta Metsola as the president of the European Parliament is only the latest in a string of happenings that are exposing high-level disagreement within the Labour Party fold, as well as an enfeebled position of Prime Minister and party leader Robert Abela.

Alex Agius Saliba and Daniel Attard, last Tuesday, both chose to ignore the call, made publicly, by Abela for them to back Metsola – who, as we all know, represents the Nationalist Party – in her bid to secure a second stint as the EP president.

Abela said, more than once, that although there were divergences with Metsola, the national interest dictated that she should be supported. A Maltese national who had the chance to occupy such an important role within EU structures deserved all the backing from fellow Maltese MEPs, Abela said.

Yet, when crunch-time came, both Agius Saliba and Attard abstained, while the third Labour MEP elected, Thomas Bajada, followed orders and voted for Metsola. Labour can no longer accuse the PN of working against Malta, as it often does each time a PN MEP does something which, in the PL’s eyes, in not of benefit to Malta. Having two Labour MEPs openly opposing a Maltese candidate is the highest form of going against Malta’s interests.

One may argue, as the PM did, that an abstention is not a vote against. This may be true, but in the circumstances we had last Tuesday, the abstention was effectively a vote against. The way the two MEPs who rejected Metsola’s nomination explained their vote comes up as pathetic, petty and partisan – with a huge dose of envy, too.

Added to this, the abstention went expressly against the wishes of the Prime Minister, further weakening Abela’s position.

It is evident that the 8 June European Parliament and local council election results have rattled Labour’s cage, and signs of discomfort have appeared from different quarters.

We started off with the resignation of deputy leader for party affairs Daniel Micallef which, although we were told had been planned, came quite at the wrong time for the PL as it is also grappling with the situation of the other deputy leader, Chris Fearne, responsible for parliamentary affairs.

The situation there is murkier. We have learnt about the stories that were fabricated against him to put his political career in jeopardy. More details are now emerging on what happened before the election for the Labour Party leadership took place in 2020, following the resignation of Joseph Muscat, and which saw Fearne starting off as the main favourite before losing out to Abela who was propelled into the fray out of the blue.  When Fearne was charged in court after the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into the hospitals deal, he chose to resign as Deputy PM and Health Minister, but retained his role as PL deputy leader. It’s a confusing state of affairs, condoned by the Prime Minister, which Labour must sort out. Maybe we will know more this week.

The insubordination by the two MEPs was not the only one we have seen in the past month.

We also had former Birkirkara mayor Yana Borg Debono Grech ignoring party instructions by voting against the PL’s nominee for the post of mayor in the locality. As a result of this, rather than have an independent mayor, the council is now led by a Nationalist mayor, at least for the next three months.

Another former Labour mayor, Alfred Zammit, chose not to attend the official swearing-in ceremony after losing his position to Olaf McKay. Zammit said he wanted to send a message because he thinks that people in the Labour Party worked against him during the election campaign. He said he is under-appreciated.

There’s more. Cyrus Engerer has opened up as to why he did not contest the EP election. He said he felt discarded by the party and the reason for this, he said, is that he was internally speaking up on issues that were bothering him. He mentioned, for example, the way the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry was tackled by the party, how foreign workers are being treated in Malta and the disregard to the environment.

The question that is being asked is whether Robert Abela is still in full control of the party. If MEPs and councillors openly go against his wishes, without fear, then it is easy to interpret this as a sign that Abela’s word does not count much. And unless Abela gives signs that some form of action was taken against these dissenting MEPs, the chances are that there may be others who will openly challenge his orders.