With the motion to open up the electoral base proposed by his closest allies defeated by 620 votes against 165 on Friday night, Labour leadership contender George Abela was still optimistic yesterday about his chances in the race.
“The fact that this proposal has been taken so seriously only shows how the Labour Party is open to new ideas,” Abela said when contacted yesterday. “This outcome doesn’t favour any of the contenders. Delegates yesterday voted for the motion, independently from whom they thought the result could have favoured. The result has filled me with courage, and it has not set me back in any way. In the past I have committed myself to contest irrespective of this decision, and by all means, I shall stick to that commitment.”
His feelings were shared by the proponent of the motion herself, Marlene Pullicino, who commenting to journalists just in the wake of the announcement of the result Friday night said she was “full of satisfaction” with the way things went.
“It’s a positive vote and George Abela is still very much in the race,” she said.
Another contender, Joseph Muscat, said he would not express himself on the delegates’ decision until the time is ripe.
“I respect the outcome of the conference and I don’t think I should give my comments at this point in time,” he said. “The rules are set, so I don’t see why I should comment. In fact, I have refrained from expressing myself on the matter since the start of my candidacy and will carry on doing so until June 5.”
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was also non-committal.
“I do not think I should react to the outcome; if I did it would constitute a conflict of interest,” she said. “I cannot put my personal opinion before the interest of the highest authority within the party. If I had to opt for that approach I would not be worthy of submitting my candidature for leadership. What I can say is that I abide by the outcome. I have to see what is of benefit to the party before seeing how such decisions would benefit me personally.”
Asked whether a different outcome would have in any way affected the final result in who is elected leader, Coleiro-Preca said: “I have no clue, mainly because I don’t even know who the 19,000 MLP members really are. Can I tell you how many fish there are in the sea? I haven’t personally conducted polls, and if anyone else has I did not go through the results.”
Deputy Leader Michael Falzon confirmed that irrespective of yesterday’s decision, he remains committed to his candidature.
“The delegates decided the way they did yesterday, so I don’t think it is really a matter of agreeing with the vote or not. Obviously, I respect the way delegates have expressed themselves,” he said.
Quizzed further, Falzon said: “I cannot tell you how I voted, but what I can say is that I made sure not to influence or sway the delegates in any way prior to the vote.
“It’s very difficult to judge whether opening the vote to members could in any way sway the final vote for leader as one’s audience-target suddenly shoots up from 900 to about 20,000. As much as, up to a certain point, one can take readings of those who stand at the core of the party, increasing your audience-target by so much would make this process very difficult. If the result would have turned out differently yesterday, it could have impacted the result on June 5, but this is not necessarily the case. It’s difficult to tell.”
Labour International Secretary Joe Mifsud, who is as yet undecided whether to contest for deputy leader, said that the debate that took place during the Labour extraordinary General Conference was “a clear sign of the party’s democratic credentials”.
“I still need to settle down certain commitments that I have, such as my legal office and my seat on the MFA council,” he said.
On his part, Labour MP Carmelo Abela, who is one of the three contenders for the post of Labour Deputy leader for Parliamentary Affairs, said: “The result is the decision that the majority of delegates saw fit to take freely. They could have decided otherwise, but did not do so. There is nothing out of this world in this. I believe that the debate about the motion has been exhausted during the General Conference.
“The proponents of the motion had every right to present this motion to the National Executive, and the National Executive had the right to present it at the Extraordinary General Conference,” Abela told MaltaToday.
The other declared contenders; Evarist Bartolo, Chris Cardona, and Joe Clyde Cassar, could not be reached for comment yesterday.