During his first press conference as Labour leader at the National Labour Centre in Hamrun yesterday morning, Joseph Muscat spoke on a very conciliatory tone as his contenders were speaking in bitter tones about their future in the party.
Speaking from a podium in front of the huge media pack that assembled for the press conference, a beaming Muscat said: “My message to all those who in the past few years did not feel comfortable in the Labour Party or have left the Labour Party is that this party is their house. Come back. Our doors are open for you.”
Muscat pledged that he personally will seek all those who in the past few years did not feel comfortable in the Labour Party in the past few years and will listen from them.
“I will do the same with all those who have never thought about the Labour Party as an alternative when they voted. I want to make out of the Labour Party a party for everybody. This is the new political season that the Labour Party will be working on,” the new leader insisted.
During the press conference, he was accompanied by interim Opposition Leader Charles Mangion, party President Stefan Zrinzo-Azzopardi and party Secretary-General Jason Micallef.
Muscat’s wife, Michelle, stood at the back listening intently at her husband’s speech.
Muscat paid tribute to the former Labour leaders who “built the Labour Party in the past: William Savona and Pawlu Boffa, Dom Mintoff, who was and still is the father of the Labour Party, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, who led the the party during a delicate period, and Alfred Sant, who transformed the Labour into a modern and organized party. Now is the time for change,” Muscat insisted.
He said his first step as party leader will be to invite the other four contestants for the party leadership to work with them. “George Abela is my brother in ideals. This is only the beginning as in the next few days, I will be speaking to Abela about projects in which he could contribute very strongly.
“Marie Louise Coleiro Preca is the social heart of the party. Michael Falzon, who was behind the organization of an electoral process which is very strong for the Labour Party. I look forward to working with him in our parliamentary experience.
“Evarist Bartolo is an intellectual who can lead the Labour Party to attract towards it the critical thought of the progressive people in this county,” he added.

Painful reforms ahead
Muscat said that during the next few months, he will implement an important project which will lead to internal party reform. “There will be drastic changes. Some of them might lead to internal pain, but are necessary so that the party can live up to the country’s environmental, economic and social aspirations,” Muscat insisted.
“The Labour Party needs to create new structures. People who until now have never been involved need to be involved. I will consider whoever has constructive criticism not as an enemy but as my biggest ally.
He added: “My vision is one where the Labour Party will be the basis of a movement of progressives and moderates, a movement for all those who identify themselves with the left and social democracy, with environmental rights and social justice, and a movement for those who from time to time base their thoughts on what they view as the best for themselves and their families.
“The Labour Party will be a very strong Opposition. Where we need to say no, we will not be afraid to say no. However a big novelty in the local political scene will be that where the Opposition agrees with the Government, it will not shy away from saying that it agrees in the national interest,” Muscat pledged.
Muscat said that he knows a lot of people of his age, that are growing more disillusioned as time goes by and who are not voting or not even collecting their votes.
“We are fed up with the usual status-quo politics. We are fed up with politics who say something but do something else, or worse, do nothing at all. This is a system that requires a strong shake-up,” he said.
“I believe that Malta could be the best country in the EU. This is an ambitious vision but whenever the Labour Party dreamt, it won,” Muscat said.

Intellectuals welcomed
After an absence of sixteen years, the new Labour leader also pledged to re-open the ideological discussion within the party: “We also need to start discussing about why we are Labourities and what the aim of the Labour Party is.
“It will be left-wing intellectuals like Duminku Fenech, Mario Vella and Prof. Chircop and Professor (Carmel) Borg that could lead the Labour Party to find the way which will not only lead towards winning the general election, but to implement changes in our country,” he insisted.
Asked about when he will resign his post in the European Parliament, Muscat said: “I need to conclude a report about VAT and financial services about which I have a deadline from the European Commission. When I conclude this job, I will resign from the European Parliament and take my place in the Maltese Parliament. I do not see it happening later then next September.”
Asked by MaltaToday whether the current Labour administration, including Secretary-General Jason Micallef, should keep their posts or not at this stage, Muscat said: “After the new Deputy Leaders are elected, I will call a meeting of the National Executive and the Parliamentary Group to take a decision about the election of the Labour Party’s National Executive and the party administration.
“I do not believe that this process should wait till next January. I believe that that these elections, along with the implementation of reforms in the Labour Party status, should take place before October. About this there is already a precedent which took place in 2003,” Muscat said.
Asked whether there had been discussions with the Government about its proposals for Parliamentary reform, Muscat said: “This morning after the Sette Giugno activity I had a small exchange (about Parliamentary reforms) with the Prime Minister and we agreed that the Labour Party should take the necessary time to prepare its counter-proposals.
“The Labour Party would surely be ready to sit around a table for discussions but should be considered as an equal partner because the Labour Party represents half the Maltese people and should be treated with respect,” he said.

czahra@mediatoday.com.mt