After losing last Saturday’s general elections, the Labour Party finds itself again at the crossroads. In a month’s time the Labour delegates will have the opportunity to choose the new leadership of the party. They can choose a leadership that will take them back and turn the party into a smaller, tribal minority. But they can also choose a leadership that will take the party forward and open it up to the aspirations and concerns of the majority of the people living on these islands. I will do my utmost together with many others who have the best interests of the party and country at heart to help the party move forward and shape a vision that articulates the needs and aspirations of the majority.
To become the next government, the Labour Party has to be relevant to the majority of the Maltese citizens, in substance and in style. The party must have values and policies that make sense for as many people as possible. We have to become an open and broad party in touch with a wider spectrum of our society. We need new ideas and new people in our fold. Dr Alfred Sant did the right thing by resigning, his two deputy leaders must do like him to be replaced.
Yes, we have lost. The question is how we interpret the defeat. Does it reflect Labour’s decline? Why are we failing to attract more voters? Do we need to address fundamental issues about us, who we are, what we stand for? Or should we console ourselves that we lost by only 1,500 votes and all we need to do is a small extra effort to ensure that we win the next election?
There is no party in opposition in the world that enjoys the support that we do. In fact, very few parties in government have the support of 48.8% of voters, as we do. Last Saturday’s elections brought us so close to winning government, but it is a case of so near and yet so far. We need to answer the question why we have lost the third election in a row, and what must we do to become elect able again. Do we need to reassert the values that hold Labour together and what makes us different from the PN?
We must go back to the country and engage in a wide and deep conversation with the people of all ages and from all walks of life if we want to grow beyond being the voice of less than half of our population. That conversation demands new party structures that are not inward looking and tribal. We have to broaden the party to include those who feel they belong to it by birth and those who decide to support it by choice because they are attracted to its policies and the stand that it takes. We must re-examine the way we use the party media and start making much better use of the internet to connect to the growing number of young and no so young people whose primary source of information and political interaction is the web.
We need to courageously address the increasing concerns with growth in income inequalities amongst us. We must put more emphasis on household experiences and household incomes, the issue of accessibility, affordability and quality of healthcare and education, governance and the rights of citizens in a more developed and active civil society. We must also address the growing worry among our citizens about the drift towards the one party state and the over concentration of power in the hands of a few networks of elites using their connection to deny opportunities for all. Given the ongoing degradation of the environment, what green policies should Labour embrace in the years ahead? How are we going to become less dependent on oil and gas and turn to alternative energy sources?
We need to define a clear vision of a caring society which is sustainable through the increase in national wealth based on the professionalism of the work ethic and the entrepreneurship of investors and the readiness to grab opportunities to move into new areas of economic activity by raising the quality of the skills and competencies of our people. We need to communicate this vision effectively and persuade people that we have the ability to deliver a better way of life and not just a few goodies doled out to citizens as a reward.
We need to be guided by principled and flexible pragmatism that makes sense in today’s world, steering away from politics as religion and politics as crass opportunism to win elections at all costs.

Evarist Bartolo is a Labour MP on the 10th and 12th districts