Evarist Bartolo has confirmed he will be contesting for Labour leader with the extraordinary confession of regretting the way he slashed students’ stipends in 1997.
Speaking to MaltaToday, the former education minister in the short-lived Alfred Sant government admits the stipends overhaul – that remains in students’ collective memory more than a decade later as evidenced in the questions asked in the leaders’ campus debate in the election campaign – was the result of his inexperience and impatience.
“I regret what I did 11 years ago,” Bartolo says, adding the issue is still very much on students’ minds. “I was inexperienced, impatient and overzealous in giving my contribution to address the budget deficit of 10% that we inherited from the PN government. I had already saved a million by removing the abuses that were carried out during the students’ summer work and as a first step I should have stopped there. The students did not complain when I did that.
“I should then have set up a commission to carry out a stipend reform with the involvement of the students. I think we need to move on from this obsession with stipends and now focus on the quality of the teaching and resources for students and lecturers at the university. We need much better standards at our university. We need to stimulate our students. The university should be a breeding ground for new ideas. It needs to be more dynamic.”
Bartolo’s declarations mark a stark contrast with Sant’s famous “no regrets” stance repeated before and after the electoral defeat.
The 55-year-old university lecturer in media studies is now holding meetings with voters and delegates in the run-up to the June leadership election.
Last Wednesday, Bartolo convened at his residence a group of university students who did not vote Labour for a post-mortem on the election result as part of the run-up to the leadership election in June.
Again, Bartolo says he regrets not having held such meetings in the past.
“I regret that I did not organise such meetings before the elections. They would have been such an eye-opener for me and the party. As I spoke to them I thought to myself, ‘this is what democracy is about’ and their passion, foresight and energy reawakened me. The time has come for the party to grow; to say that youth are the future is to postpone change. The youth are the present. We need their contribution now.”
Bartolo also distances himself from the outgoing leadership since he lost the contest for deputy leader for party affairs in 2003.
“I was certainly not a major player in the party in the last five years,” he says about his input under Sant in the last five years. “My contribution was like that of any member of the parliamentary group, no more and no less. I did play a major role in updating and producing new policies in tourism. I took a back seat partly for personal and family reasons and partly because my decision not to contest the leadership contest in 2003 and my failure to become deputy leader for party affairs in the same year did diminish my standing in the party.”
About his chances of being elected by the delegates, Bartolo says he is encouraged by the response “but it is still early days”. He adds that in principle he agrees that the vote should be extended beyond the delegates although he awaits the proposals of the commission set up to analyse the election result.
“In principle I agree to do what other parties like PASOK in Greece and the Partito Democratico in Italy have done to have the leader elected from as wide a base as possible, even beyond the party delegates and members. I am all for steps to open up the party and make it less tribal. But should we do it now? I think we should also wait for the recommendations of the commission that has been set up to analyse the electoral defeat.”
Citing experience as his best teacher, at 55, Bartolo says his age should not be a factor in putting off young voters.
“I am 55 years old but am very good at getting on with young people. I think that experience has given me foresight, energy and new vision. Since 1992 I have always been elected from two districts considered PN strongholds and I am happy to say that apart from getting thousands of votes from Labour voters I get hundreds of votes from people whose first preference is given to other candidates from other parties. That gives me confidence in my ability to appeal to the wider electorate.
“Looking back, there are things that I would have done differently. That simply reinforces my belief that experience is man’s best teacher. What I carry with me is not baggage, but past failures and successes – they give me confidence in myself while reminding me that I am not invincible, that my decisions should not be hasty, and that different perspectives are crucial to the decision-making process. If that is what ‘baggage’ means, then I carry it with pride.”
From the students’ feedback, Bartolo says the message of a new beginning scared young voters as there were good things they wanted to remain under a new government.
“One student summed it up brilliantly: ‘When we compared what the two parties were offering we said: “Konna lesti nbiddlu z-zejt tal-karozza izda mhux il-karozza.’ (We were ready to change the engine oil but not the car). And they preferred to vote PN as they wanted a change in management but not a change in direction and they interpreted Labour’s slogan ‘A fresh start’ as meaning that Labour would scrap what there was and start everything afresh and while they wanted certain aspects of the PN government to go, they wanted other aspects to remain.
“Some of the young people told me they had no illusions when they voted PN and saw the PN as the lesser of two evils. They want Labour to engage with young people through authentic consultation meetings and the internet. They want Labour to have better quality policy making and come up with policies that are relevant to the middle class and not just the working class and present these policies in a more credible and professional manner.”
As part of his campaign, Bartolo says he will be consulting more people from diverse backgrounds, besides the delegates.
“I will be meeting people from the whole social spectrum: business people, professional people, unions, people who are involved in the arts, people who work in IT, people who are active in civil society through NGOs engaged in environmental, disability and civil rights issues. I will also be meeting media personnel and education body representatives.”
About his meetings with delegates so far, Bartolo says they are “aware that the party has to open up more and elect a leader that is not just popular within the party but also popular within the Maltese society at large”.
“The delegates want an electable party and a leader who can reach out to the electorate. They are inward looking in the sense that they recognise the need for internal party reform, but they remain acutely aware of the objectives of such reform. The internal workings of the party are crucial for labour’s success on a national scale. There is a general feeling that it is time to grow.”
As to the perception of the MLP being averse to criticism, Bartolo speaks of the need for the party to reach out to the rest of society.
“I agree with those who say that the MLP is often a standalone party while the PN has managed to spread its hegemony over our society and is very powerful and influential even when it is not in government. To break out of its isolation the MLP must become more positive and work harder at having direct and open and constant contact with as many people as possible. We must also have a change of culture within the party and cultivate the art of compromise and achieving unity in diversity. This internal change will have ramifications outside the party, with the media and the rest of society.”