Explaining Why

Maltastar  

Three weeks are certainly not enough to remove the hurt and the pain of suffering an electoral defeat as the one suffered on 12th April. Local elections for 2002 had indicated clearly that if the general election were to be contested on purely domestic issues, Labour would have won hands down with a very significant margin. So it hurts more knowing that we suffered a defeat which should have been a victory of considerable proportions.

Clearly we have now to move forward. But in doing so we cannot just ignore the past.

How can one justify that every year the party updates one of its major policies and so much time and effort is put in to ensure that the final product reflects the views of the widest cross-section possible of the party members, and then on a major issue like the party’s position on the EU referendum we get top-down decisions which fail to convince even the inner core let alone the floating voters.

“We must never forget that to win an election we need not only the vote of all party factions”

It is this reasoning that forced me to contest the post of deputy leader for party affairs. The function of deputy leader for party affairs is to take charge of all the internal administration of the Party, to maintain and enhance its communications infrastructure, to ensure that the views of the grassroots in the local clubs, district committees as well as section committees are regularly sought and analysed and presented to the leader giving the necessary awareness of the general feelings of the rank and file. If conducted effectively this would become an interactive process that re-cycles itself continuously ensuring that the policies meet the aspirations of the grassroots. Any gap between the party’s policies and the grassroots aspirations that cannot be filled by policy changes should get addressed by an education and communications exercise to re-shape gradually such aspirations to fit the party’s policies.

The deputy leader party affairs position therefore demands that the incumbent is a very capable listener and an effective communicator to the party leadership of the aspirations of the rank and file. He must also advise the leader on the party’s strategies to ensure that within the context of its social democratic calling, the party adopts a mission for the post-Fenech Adami era that is likely to appeal to the majority of the electorate.

We must never forget that to win an election we need not only the vote of all party factions but also those of the floating voters who have no fixed party allegiance and who are motivated to vote for that party that in the particular circumstances is considered best suited to be trusted with guiding the country for the next legislature.

My contesting the position of deputy leader for party affairs is meant to ensure that the party does not miss the next appointment with the electorate at the end of the forthcoming legislature.