It’s the ultimate diminutive for the name of the new Labour leader, according to MLP insiders, who claim the Nationalist media has been given instructions to refer to Joseph Muscat as simply ‘Joe’, to render the young leader’s appellation even more insignificant.
Muscat’s appeal for inclusiveness and a new style of leadership was marked by his call to supporters to simply “call him Joseph”, in a bid to demystify the authority that surrounded his predecessor, whose official appellation was the chunky “Doctor Alfred Sant”.
But Labour sources say they are gleaning various references off the Nationalist party media that constantly allude to Muscat as Joe: a tactic that takes familiarity to its extreme, and in that way to possibly breed contempt.
Inside Labour, there has been no shortage of accolades for Muscat as the MLP’s own Tony Blair, and Muscat’s appeal to supporters to address him by his Christian name may just about reflect Blair’s first cabinet meeting with the instruction “Just call me Tony”.
British ministers toed the line happily in addressing their leader as Tony, but like all fads, the chumminess soon wore off as Blair’s unpopularity grew over the years.
Even though he’s no “Michael”, Joseph will be having the “Joe” taken out of him for some time to come by the PN.