There could be no fitting contrast with Alfred Sant’s austere ways than Joseph Muscat’s tight embrace with the bubbly Maria Camilleri, who returned to the party fold after a decade in exile for having taken erstwhile premier and party leader Dom Mintoff’s side in his epochal 1998 clash with Sant over the Cottonera waterfront vote.
Not only has Muscat shown he took note of Camilleri’s hurt feelings after her favoured candidate, Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca, was humiliated in Thursday’s leadership contest; but he was able to show her a kind of human affection which Alfred Sant was just incapable of expressing in public.
Speaking on Xarabank last Friday, Camilleri revealed that when she had offered Sant a helping hand before the last election, he told her to stay at the periphery of the party.
On Sunday, Camilleri could have melted: Muscat made it a point to tell her that her role is at the centre, and not backstage.
Muscat also affectionately embraced one of George Abela’s most prominent supporters, Marlene Pullicino, praising her for having had the courage to speak her own mind in the contest.
But Muscat’s open embrace to those who had fallen out with Sant and the party’s administration raises two questions: how can Muscat take Old Labour back on board while promoting a New Labour agenda? And how can Muscat get all four other contestants on board, without severing his ties with present secretary-general Jason Micallef?
Muscat is aware of the inherent contradictions he faces. He welcomed a host of former ministers and MPs (“Brothers, your place is with us”) but he also made it clear the “political earthquake” ahead will not be to everyone’s liking and could irritate some, but the changes were necessary.
It was also former minister and Old Labour stalwart Joe Grima’s first visit to the MLP’s new headquarters after, very ironically, having become more familiar with the PN’s headquarters in the past decade as a talk show host.
And it is the reappearance of so many old faces that could be off-putting to those who suffered during Old Labour’s reign. But Muscat’s priority on Sunday was that of re-uniting his party behind him at a moment when he is still viewed by suspicion by the old guard. Still Muscat managed to apologise for Labour’s past mistakes while being applauded by the party’s ex ministers. No mean feat.
The sudden resignation of Old Labour’s hawk Joe Debono Grech could easily have spoiled Muscat’s honeymoon had he not performed so well on Sunday.
But the million-dollar question on everybody’s lips is whether secretary-general Jason Micallef will survive the internal earthquake promised by Muscat. For the past months the PN’s media has portrayed Joseph Muscat as Jason Micallef’s man. Yet the new Labour leader seems keen on showing this is not the case. With Micallef sitting behind him he declared: “Behind Joseph, there is no one... Just one person, my wife,” he said, looking into her eyes and urging the crowd to “love her because she loves you”.
This was also the only moment when Muscat crossed the lines of political sobriety with his schmaltzy and corny line of affection. Having a loving wife and family are surely electoral plusses in a family-oriented society. But overdoing this could alienate a growing minority who do not fit in the stereotypical representation of the family.
Still: for the first time since Paul Boffa, the MLP is led by a family man. Although married to an English woman, Mintoff was the perfect embodiment of Mediterranean machismo. Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici was a cross between a committed bachelor and a secular, austere celibate priest. Alfred Sant, on the other hand, belonged to the growing category of separated persons, but the people’s few glimpses into his guarded personal life were not enough to show him as the loving and dedicated father he known to be.
While the contrast with his predecessors once again plays to Muscat’s advantage, overplaying his wife’s role at such an early stage risks squandering this asset which rival Lawrence Gonzi only used a few months before the last election.
Inevitably, with both Muscat and Gonzi pandering to charisma and family life, Maltese politics seems destined to become more presidential and Americanised. The great risk is the sacrifice of political content on the altar of the political market, where good looks – more than good ideas – matter.
Muscat’s charisma could well galvanise a movement for progressive change, even similar to that ushered by the unlikely candidacy of Barack Obama in the United States.
But when the honeymoon is over, the public will start demanding answers from Muscat. And with the party facing an impending decision on whether to keep Jason Micallef in his place, Muscat’s honeymoon could be a very short one indeed.

jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt