6th June 2008
The Malta Independent - Friday Wisdom
The Malta Independent - Friday Wisdom
My
webmaster alerted me to the fact
that last weekend’s contribution in The Malta Independent on Sunday was my one
thousandth op-ed since 1999 which are all uploaded on my website. Since 24
September 1999, I have signed and collected 1,000 articles. So my webmaster
suggested that I should celebrate the start of the second millennium with a very
special contribution.
I was truly spoilt for choice of subjects this week. Alfred Sant’s resignation from Opposition Leader yesterday would normally merit an analysis of his 16-year stint as Labour leader. However there is little to add to the harsh criticism contained in his regard by the report of analysis for Labour’s 2008 election defeat and these last five years I have been pointing out how Alfred Sant had set Labour on a path to sure failure.
There is not much more to say except that he leaves behind a legacy of catastrophic election losses, unsustainable policies leading to colossal U-turns that chipped away credibility, internal financial ruin and cliques opposing each other rather than their political adversary.
Even his departure lacked grace. His remaining Opposition Leader but resigning from party leadership right up to the start of the EGC voting for the new leader is strange and unorthodox. He should have resigned both positions or stayed in both as caretaker until the new leader is elected. The way he did things leaves room for speculation of using his incumbency to influence the choice of his successor while appearing detached from the party corridors.
Obviously this week there is going on the actual voting process to elect a new Labour leader. By the time this is published, the voting result of the Thursday vote, which is unknown to me as I write, would be known. Unless Joseph Muscat got an outright 50 per cent plus one vote in the Thursday vote, it means he is facing a run-off this evening with the second-placed contender, who most probably would be George Abela. Any other results of the first-day vote would expose total and unhealthy detachment by the Labour delegates to the clear views of the general electorate captured by various opinion surveys held over the course of the last two months.
If Muscat was elected outright on the first vote, may God bless him with the fortitude and wisdom to extricate himself and the party from the stranglehold of the web of incumbents that worked so hard for his election.
If the contest is heading for a run-off this evening between the two favourite contenders, Muscat is still in time to show the true substance of his leadership potential by withdrawing from the contest in recognition of the fact he would be much better placed to be the next leader after Abela 10 years down the road. At age 44 and with probably five years’ ministerial experience on his CV he can then take Labour forward for the next quarter century somewhere in 2018.
If there is a run-off between Muscat and Abela this evening and Joseph decides to carry on till the finishing line, then in reality he would be losing even if he wins. He would lose the respect of honest and true Labourites who would see in him the image of Alfred Sant’s act of betrayal in seeking re-election after the 2003 election defeat. Muscat would in Sant’s tradition be seeking personal glory at the expense of the party’s interest in trying to pip out the person whom the electorate consistently regard as giving Labour the best prospect for winning the next elections.
Perhaps my readers are wondering why I do not apply the same reasoning even if Muscat were to win an outright majority in the first vote. Simply because at the first-vote stage, Muscat had no assurance that his standing back would permit Abela to accede to leadership when the contest was still a five-way race. However if in today’s vote the run-off is between Muscat and Abela, Joseph knows that by standing back, Abela would accede to leadership without any risk of the space vacated being filled by another contender whom Joseph rightly considers as ranking below his attributes for leadership.
This one thousand and one op-ed is happening on a historic day which could render Labour instantly as the party of the majority even if it would have to wait a whole legislature to translate such majority into an executive mandate. Or it could be yet another stage on Labour’s slippery slope towards oblivion if it elects a leader in defiance of the clearly-expressed views of the general electorate, and in so doing giving the PN an easy ride to making Gonzi a three-term Prime Minister.
The electorate is demanding from Labour change they can believe in. Which brings me to the other topic which would have merited a whole op-ed this week. Barack Obama has against all odds beaten Hilary Clinton for the Democrats’ nomination for the November US presidential election. A 46-year-old who achieved national recognition just four years ago in the Democratic Convention when Obama was still a state senator in Illinois, has catapulted himself to nation’s favourite for presidency by a battle-cry promise of “change we can believe in”. America seems well on the way to electing its first Afro-American coloured president.
Obama’s campaign has been a lesson that in politics what matters is not the colour of the skin, sex or the age of the contender. What matters is who can best offer the electorate change we can believe in.
webmaster alerted me to the fact
that last weekend’s contribution in The Malta Independent on Sunday was my one
thousandth op-ed since 1999 which are all uploaded on my website. Since 24
September 1999, I have signed and collected 1,000 articles. So my webmaster
suggested that I should celebrate the start of the second millennium with a very
special contribution.I was truly spoilt for choice of subjects this week. Alfred Sant’s resignation from Opposition Leader yesterday would normally merit an analysis of his 16-year stint as Labour leader. However there is little to add to the harsh criticism contained in his regard by the report of analysis for Labour’s 2008 election defeat and these last five years I have been pointing out how Alfred Sant had set Labour on a path to sure failure.
There is not much more to say except that he leaves behind a legacy of catastrophic election losses, unsustainable policies leading to colossal U-turns that chipped away credibility, internal financial ruin and cliques opposing each other rather than their political adversary.
Even his departure lacked grace. His remaining Opposition Leader but resigning from party leadership right up to the start of the EGC voting for the new leader is strange and unorthodox. He should have resigned both positions or stayed in both as caretaker until the new leader is elected. The way he did things leaves room for speculation of using his incumbency to influence the choice of his successor while appearing detached from the party corridors.
Obviously this week there is going on the actual voting process to elect a new Labour leader. By the time this is published, the voting result of the Thursday vote, which is unknown to me as I write, would be known. Unless Joseph Muscat got an outright 50 per cent plus one vote in the Thursday vote, it means he is facing a run-off this evening with the second-placed contender, who most probably would be George Abela. Any other results of the first-day vote would expose total and unhealthy detachment by the Labour delegates to the clear views of the general electorate captured by various opinion surveys held over the course of the last two months.
If Muscat was elected outright on the first vote, may God bless him with the fortitude and wisdom to extricate himself and the party from the stranglehold of the web of incumbents that worked so hard for his election.
If the contest is heading for a run-off this evening between the two favourite contenders, Muscat is still in time to show the true substance of his leadership potential by withdrawing from the contest in recognition of the fact he would be much better placed to be the next leader after Abela 10 years down the road. At age 44 and with probably five years’ ministerial experience on his CV he can then take Labour forward for the next quarter century somewhere in 2018.
If there is a run-off between Muscat and Abela this evening and Joseph decides to carry on till the finishing line, then in reality he would be losing even if he wins. He would lose the respect of honest and true Labourites who would see in him the image of Alfred Sant’s act of betrayal in seeking re-election after the 2003 election defeat. Muscat would in Sant’s tradition be seeking personal glory at the expense of the party’s interest in trying to pip out the person whom the electorate consistently regard as giving Labour the best prospect for winning the next elections.
Perhaps my readers are wondering why I do not apply the same reasoning even if Muscat were to win an outright majority in the first vote. Simply because at the first-vote stage, Muscat had no assurance that his standing back would permit Abela to accede to leadership when the contest was still a five-way race. However if in today’s vote the run-off is between Muscat and Abela, Joseph knows that by standing back, Abela would accede to leadership without any risk of the space vacated being filled by another contender whom Joseph rightly considers as ranking below his attributes for leadership.
This one thousand and one op-ed is happening on a historic day which could render Labour instantly as the party of the majority even if it would have to wait a whole legislature to translate such majority into an executive mandate. Or it could be yet another stage on Labour’s slippery slope towards oblivion if it elects a leader in defiance of the clearly-expressed views of the general electorate, and in so doing giving the PN an easy ride to making Gonzi a three-term Prime Minister.
The electorate is demanding from Labour change they can believe in. Which brings me to the other topic which would have merited a whole op-ed this week. Barack Obama has against all odds beaten Hilary Clinton for the Democrats’ nomination for the November US presidential election. A 46-year-old who achieved national recognition just four years ago in the Democratic Convention when Obama was still a state senator in Illinois, has catapulted himself to nation’s favourite for presidency by a battle-cry promise of “change we can believe in”. America seems well on the way to electing its first Afro-American coloured president.
Obama’s campaign has been a lesson that in politics what matters is not the colour of the skin, sex or the age of the contender. What matters is who can best offer the electorate change we can believe in.
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