Joseph Muscat has identified a contender to oust Jason Micallef
Labour leader Joseph Muscat is set to support a new contender for secretary-general, as relations with Jason Micallef now appear to have broken down.
MaltaToday is reliably informed that Muscat has identified the candidate who will enjoy his backing.
Returning back to work after a two-week break, Muscat told close aides he was ready to take Micallef head-on. But it will be a different stand to the cautious distance he kept back in 2008 from the contenders for the party administration, just after he had been elected leader of the Labour Party.
Elections for the post of Labour secretary-general take place next January.
Sources said Micallef had now become a “yoke around Muscat’s neck”, with the secretary-general’s antagonism towards Muscat’s handpicked chief executive James Piscopo, seen as undermining the Labour leader’s authority.
Several incidents have led to the worsening of relations, the latest being the departure of long-serving head of news Miriam Dalli from One TV.
Dalli complained of Micallef’s interference in the news bulletin. People close to Dalli told MaltaToday she had a “personal clash with Micallef.”
“He made her life difficult by drawing up reports on the news bulletins. She was irked by his attitude. She didn’t want to leave. It was a hard decision.”
The same sources added that Joseph Muscat was “helpless to intervene and defend her… Jason Micallef has too much of a free hand in the place.”
Added to that was the ongoing turf war between Micallef, who still reclaimed his post of secretary-general despite Labour’s electoral loss in 2008, and CEO James Piscopo – specifically picked by Muscat to undercut Micallef’s influence on party affairs.
Piscopo was chosen to take over functions primarily within the remit of the secretary-general, but he has faced opposition from Micallef from day one.
The first episode that exposed their rift was during Joseph Muscat’s swearing-in as Opposition leader. It is understood that Micallef desisted from handling the arrangements for the live transmission on One TV, forcing Piscopo to get directly involved in the matter. Piscopo found One TV’s resources had been hived off for the station’s launch of their new mobile phone venture, leaving little technical support for Muscat’s inauguration. The news reportage was punctuated by several technical shortcomings.
To counter Micallef’s influence inside the One TV newsroom, Muscat placed media officer Mark Farrugia as his personal link in the newsroom. Muscat also appointed maltastar.com editor Kurt Farrugia, and journalist Charlon Gouder – a Micallef acolyte – as co-spokespersons for the party.
The last straw was Micallef’s decision to employ reporter Rodney Vassallo at One News, without informing CEO James Piscopo.
Two weeks ago, MaltaToday had reported that Micallef’s job responsibilities had been hanging on the line, as the party leadership wanted to further “downsize” his role. Sources told MaltaToday that Muscat had expressed his concern within party quarters that ‘the Micallef problem’ had to be resolved.
Micallef downplayed MaltaToday’s suggestion that his relations with Muscat were strained. “If you read the papers you would see that Joseph and I are said to be concubines, that we get on like a house on fire,” Micallef told this newspaper two weeks ago, not without some sarcasm.
MaltaToday can also confirm that in the coming days, a special announcement will be made by the Labour Party with the appointment of a new press officer. Sources have told this newspaper the person appointed “will be the talk of the town”.
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