Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Whatever the circumstances might be and whether you like him or not - you have always got to give credit to a man who not only defies the odds, but slaps them in the face as he comes out triumphant. Take Jason Micallef for instance. He is a man who has been vehemently criticised by those in his own party, including his predecessor Jimmy Magro, and has also been named as one of the main reasons why the MLP lost the last General Elections. Yet he still succeeded in getting himself re-elected as the Secretary General of the Labour Party. Emerging victorious with 44.2% of the delegates votes, not only was his election surprising, and perhaps shocking to some, but the majority margin of votes in his favour makes us question this whole image of a "new" Labour since so many within its ranks seem content and supportive of that which was there before. Congratulations to him for managing to achieve what he has, and for doing to so with such flying colours, however, now that the voting is over, and looking back on all that has been said and done, would we be completely irrational if we asked whether Labour has made a great mistake, by putting its faith, for a second successive term, in the 'teethy' man behind the smirk: Jason Micallef.

When Alfred Sant resigned as leader of the MLP following a third consecutive loss, the prospect of a real ‘Bidu Ġdid’ started to seem like it might actually be a viable reality. A new leader would mean new ideas and possibly even a new approach to politics. It was clear from the offset that Joseph Muscat was the favoured candidate within the party, and when election time came along, this was proven. Although George Abela, his main rival for the post, took the elections to a second round of voting, evidently Muscat was all but set to becoming the new leader, which he ultimately did. In many ways, he is Alfred Sant's polar opposite, for he is a young and energetic leader and although still fresh, he has had the time to learn the ropes of local politics, and he is someone reaches out and appeals to the people. He made us question our doubts, for perhaps he was the right man, and perhaps he signalled the new beginning which once seemed so far off.

But that, unfortunately, is where it all ended. When Anglu Farrugia and Toni Abela were elected as deputy leaders for parliamentary and party affairs respectively, it was yet another case of déjà vu for the MLP – replacing the bad with the worse. It seemed as if conservatism once again reigned supreme amongst the voting delegates of the party; a case of sticking to and voting for who they are familiar with, rather than he who brings the best package to the table. This is also the case with Jason’s re-election: through him, the delegates have reinstated the supposed weak link within the party, the person who many love to hate due to his arrogant nature.

Everyone within a political party knows the importance of a secretary general – he is essentially responsible for the party’s day-to-day running, and also plays a central role in the party’s administration come election period. While I cannot judge his actions with regards the former, it is in the latter that he comprehensively failed last time out. While Joe Saliba was knocking on people’s doors asking for them to vote for the PN, Micallef was confident that the MLP were going to win the election by a considerable margin. While Joe Saliba knew how much work the PN had to do in order to remain in government, Micallef believed that the election was won even before it started. While Joe Saliba acknowledged that the government had made mistakes in the past legislature and was willing to improve and not repeat the same errors, Micallef refused to accept past mistakes and showed his arrogant ignorance, not even knowing basic facts like how many new voters there were in last March’s election.

With time I may be proven wrong, but to be quite honest, I sincerely doubt this will be the case. The bottom line is that Joseph Muscat intended his leadership to mark the beginning of a new era. His intentions were for a fresher Labour and a clean start. He wanted a team made up of new faces, but what he's ended up with is firmly the opposite. And as far as faces go, you've got to feel sorry for the man, having to go to work every morning and be greeted by that smirk.