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Would anyone tell me what has become of the ideals that once engrained our political Parties? In my teens and twenties we could feel the enthusiasm for the Party ideals that we embraced, now; unfortunately, it seems that the love of the Party has made way for the love of the administration. And it will be a mistake to assimilate the administration of any of the two major political parties with their ideals.
It is no news that the resignation of a strong leader brings with it a deep vacuum in any political party. The Labour and the Nationalist Parties are no exception: there is still a vacuum in the aftermath of the departure of their previous strong and charismatic leaders. The only difference is that one looks down and the other looks up at their predecessor.
Moreover, the election of both the present leaders of these parties has raised many eyebrows. We all remember what Lino Spiteri wrote and how hell broke loose against the former mayor of Cospicua who later ‘swallowed’ his throat and called untrue his confidence with Lino Spiteri about the tampering of votes. The election of Lawrence Gonzi as leader of the Nationalist Party was also cosmetic because the party is the law and the party can either make you or brake you. In Gonzi’s case they wanted to make him the leader and the next Prime Minister.
And the end result? The end result is that we have two leaders whose position is as insecure as the roads we drive through in Malta and whose main priority is no longer the Party ideals but the Party leadership. Their focus is not on what we need to do for the Party to grow stronger and bigger, but on what we need to do for ‘us’ to grow stronger and bigger.
It is a shame how the attention is nowadays no longer focused on the Party manifesto, but on the leadership manifesto. It is an open secret that if you are not loyal to the leadership then you are not loyal to the party. You have by now become familiar with cases on the Labour and the Nationalist side (more on the Labour side because there seems to be a mole at their headquarters ready to report anything hot to the Nationalist media) when staunch supporters who have dared question the party leadership have had their mouth shut or were expelled from the Party or suffocated or isolated to the extent that they had no alternative but to resign. As in the Yukos case, nowadays loyalty to the leadership comes before loyalty to the party.
I have no problem to say that I see a big gap between the Malta Labour Party and the administration of the party. The Administration is in its glass house in Hamrun and its concentration is more on retaining control within the Party than on taking concrete actions against the way this government is riding roughshod over everything and everybody. If Norman Lowell is waiting for the next wave, the Labour Party does not want to make waves. Take a look at the opposition which Fenech Adami led during the socialist governments and compare them to the opposition led by Alfred Sant? If prior to Fenech Adami, the Nationalists trembled when facing a Labourite, nowadays the Labourites tremble not only at the sight of Nationalists, but also at the sight of the Labour Party administration itself. We do not know who is going to be next to be deposed by the so-called Vigilance and Disciplinary Board. What I do know is that the Administration gets stronger every time dissidents are expelled or resign from the Party whereas the party gets weaker.
It is a great shame indeed that the two major political parties are going through this leadership crisis. It is true that the results of the European elections gave Alfred Sant and Lawrence Gonzi a boost by securing their leadership, but it is also true that both of them walk on glass. When you are not appointed on your own steam, insecurity prevails and that insecurity is being translation in tighter controls. The appointment of Godfrey Grima by the Malta Labour Party to form part of a Commission to underatke a post-mortem report on the electoral defeat and lately by the Nationalist Party to do the same after the results of the MEP elections, raised many eyebrows and rightly so.
Godfrey Grima is the custodian of the confidential data that he gathered about the Malta Labour Party. Now he will be the custodian of confidential data regarding the Nationalist Party. Now that he can be trusted to do such a sensitive job by both parties is to Grima’s merit. One thing is for sure: that he knows how to keep his mouth shut and the report he prepared with the priest and others on Labour’s electoral defeat is a case in point. What the Malta Labour Party has gained from this confidentiality I do not know, but what I do know is that as members of the Party we were never informed about its recommendations and what action was taken to implement the report. I augur that the report which Grima and his colleagues will present to the Nationalist Party will not encounter the same fate.
Any leader who is insecure has to overcome his insecurity by employing staff that can be relied on for their loyalty. The employment of full-time and part-time employees at the Labour Party headquarters has rendered the same headquarters that of the Administration and not of the party. Loyalty to their job comes before loyalty to the party. As they say, one cannot bite the hand that feeds you and this is how the situation at the Party goes. Remain loyal to me and you will have your income secured. I pay you and you keep your mouth shut.
Party finances are another matter, but that subject will take up a whole article because there is ample to write about. For the time being I ask only one question: Can anyone explain to me why Jimmy Magro is still receiving a salary for staying at home?
Another crisis within the Party leadership is that of party dissidents. Party dissidents are those who left the Party of origin and went with the other Party. I know of Party dissidents in both camps and I can say that they become the diehards within their newly adopted Party. The problem with these people is that they care little about the image of their adopted Party, as their main goal is to defy and embarrass their former colleagues at the expense of the Party. No wonder then, that nowadays we cannot distinguish between one Party from the other to the extent that we do not know what makes the Labour Party ‘labour’ and the Nationalist Party ‘nationalist.’
I was reading lately that the Nationalist Party was founded by Dr Fortunato Mizzi in 1880 as an anti reform Party opposing taxation decreed by the authorities as well as measures to Anglicanise the educational and the judicial system. Did you get that – an anti reform party opposing taxation! I am sure that you will agree with me that if Dr Fortunato Mizzi were to come and visit us again he will not be happy with the Party at all.
The same can be said of the Malta Labour Party. Love of Labour has made way for love of the Administration. The CNL (Centru Nazzjonalista Laburista) is not the Malta Labour Party that its forefathers like Censu Bugeja, Boffa and Mintoff have strived for. If CNL started in 1992, the Malta Labour Party started over ninety years ago and no leader has the right to cancel the history of his party.
That is why I say that the party is over…..
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