The tide has turned. Labour's days are numbered. Even former Labour minister Edward Zammit Lewis is warning Labour to get worried. Labour's much-hyped "best budget in history" didn't shift the needle. On the contrary Labour lost thousands of votes in just one month. As headlines screamed "No budget bounce for Labour" and "Labour marginally loses ground in spite of best budget ever", one of Labour's few decent Ministers, Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi called it a day. No doubt, others will follow Zrinzo Azzopardi's lead and jump ship before it sinks beneath the waves.
Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi has realised he can no longer form part of Robert Abela's government. Zrinzo Azzopardi was subjected to the double humiliation of being the only cabinet member who had his portfolio changed twice in quick succession. Zrinzo Azzopardi didn't deserve the two demotions. If anything he deserved to be commended for his decency and integrity.
Zrinzo Azzopardi refused to countenance reinstating Kurt Buhagiar, one of the men accused of Jean Paul Sofia's involuntary murder, back to his full-time government post. Zrinzo Azzopardi felt it was entirely inappropriate to reward Buhagiar while he was still being prosecuted. So Robert Abela moved Zrinzo Azzopardi from Lands to EU funds.
Kurt Buhagiar was reinstated with Robert Abela's backing. When Isabelle Bonnici, Jean Paul Sofia's mother objected to his reinstatement, Owen Bonnici, who Robert Abela appointed as the new Lands minister, blamed Zrinzo Azzopardi for Buhagiar's appointment. Zrinzo Azzopardi couldn't let that falsehood stand. He uploaded a post on Facebook categorically stating "I never gave my consent or approved this decision". In fact, Zrinzo Azzopardi had issued instructions that Buhagiar should not be given back his full-time job and should remain suspended. Zrinzo Azzopardi realised that reinstating Buhagiar would be insensitive and wholly inappropriate.
But Robert Abela wanted Buhagiar reappointed - and he swiftly took the Lands portfolio away from Zrinzo Azzopardi. Abela even defended Buhagiar's reinstatement - "he's now doing the job he was paid to do", Abela commented, adding that "the court did not recommend Buhagiar's dismissal".
Defying Abela wasn't the only reason Zrinzo Azzopardi was demoted.
Zrinzo Azzopardi, as Planning Minister, was spearheading legal changes that would have stopped construction projects from proceeding until all appeals processes had been exhausted. Abela's friends, the developers, didn't like that one bit. So Abela acted swiftly. In January 2024 he removed Zrinzo Azzopardi from the Planning Ministry, halting the changes Zrinzo Azzopardi was working on.
Zrinzo Azzopardi became the Lands Minister. But there again Zrinzo Azzopardi's decency clashed with Abela's deceit.
Abela wanted Zrinzo Azzopardi to let Silvio Debono's DB group defer the payment of 4 million euro in ground rent on the ITS St George's Bay site until the next century. Zrinzo Azzopardi resisted, irking Abela whose servility to the developers who fund his party knows no bounds. So Zrinzo Azzopardi was moved aside, once again. The real reason for his second demotion was because the developers wanted him out. And, as always, Abela submitted to the wishes of his mega-developer friends.
Isabelle Bonnici was the first to express her disgust when Robert Abela cynically moved Zrinzo Azzopardi from Lands to EU funds. Bonnici eloquently crystallised the situation - "That is the thanks you received for acting like a responsible man and minister," she commented. "I admired and thanked you for not agreeing to the decision that one of the accused in my beloved son's murder be allowed to return to work".
Zrinzo Azzopardi knows he cannot work with Robert Abela any longer. He's chosen to sacrifice his political career for his integrity. He's seen his former colleague, Chris Fearne, come to ruin because he chose his political ambition over doing the right thing and quitting his cabinet post. Besides, Zrinzo Azzopardi has calculated that Labour is on the wane. He knows Labour won't be in power for much longer. He's figured he'll better abandon the sinking ship before he's dragged down with it. And he's right.
Zrinzo Azzopardi announced that he will not be contesting the next general election. He's promised, however, to keep offering his services to the Labour party "as I have done for the past 30 years" in a clear dig at Robert Abela. Labour will need honest moderate people of integrity like Zrinzo Azzopardi to rebuild the party after Abela's inevitable catastrophic fall.
Malta will need an opposition party which respects democratic principles and eschews the intimidation, hostility and indecency that characterised Joseph Muscat's and Robert Abela's Labour. The people have tired of the abrasiveness, belligerence and bullying of the ruling party. The people have had enough of the antagonism and divisiveness. They can't stomach the aggression and coarseness of Labour's Jason Micallef and Neville Gafa, the rudeness and confrontation of Silvio Schembri and Alex Agius Saliba. And all the polls are showing that the winds of change are gathering.
PN now leads Labour amongst the younger voters. The opposition made massive gains in Gozo, the Northern and Western districts. In the 2022 general election Labour won by 39,474 votes. Just one month ago Labour led by only 15,000 votes. The latest poll puts Labour just 7,600 votes ahead. Labour is on 48.7% and PN on 46.1%. But that difference is well within the margin of error - in fact the PN might already be ahead by 0.9% - and it will only get worse for Labour as its many scandals rapidly catch up with it.
Edward Zammit Lewis is right - Labour will lose power because of its own arrogant obstinacy. For those who have colluded with Labour to defraud the Maltese public, it's time for an exit strategy; it's time to follow Zrinzo Azzopardi's wise lead. The time of reckoning is approaching. Those who played their part in looting the state will finally answer for their actions. The real victims, the Maltese public, will finally have a shot at justice.