If only Malta had a Labour leader who recognised Joseph Muscat’s mistakes to not repeat them. Instead, Robert Abela adopted some of Muscat’s worst traits and is doubling down on them.
A case in point is what he is doing in parliament, where he is using state resources to buy loyalty by abusing the system of co-options.
When an MP vacates their parliamentary seat, there should be a casual election to ensure the next most-voted candidate in that MP’s district takes their place.
A co-option should be the last resort, such as when all the candidates have already been elected or if the MP vacating their seat has already been elected through a casual election.
There are also other exceptions, such as when the party members elect a leader who is not in parliament and needs to be co-opted.
This was done in the cases of Bernard Grech, Adrian Delia and even Muscat.
In such cases, however, these had been elected leader by their parties (in the PN’s case, by thousands of party members).
But what Abela has done since becoming party leader is orchestrate a betrayal of Labour’s electorate, at the expense of taxpayers.
And he is doing it to make sure he surrounds himself by yes-men, when the Muscat administration should have taught him to do the very opposite.
Robert Abela adopted some of Joseph Muscat’s worst traits and is doubling down on them- Charles Azzopardi
How is he using state resources to get his loyalists to parliament?
Firstly, by making deals with MPs to give up their seat, like he did with Manuel Mallia, giving him a posting as Malta’s high commissioner to the UK, at the expense of career diplomats who were more deserving. Or when he gave Edward Scicluna the position of governor of the Central Bank.
Secondly, Abela uses phantom jobs and consultancies to get candidates not to contest casual elections, to ensure a co-option can take place.
I should know.
When I was still a member of the Labour Party, I was offered such deals to not contest the seat vacated by Scicluna.
Rest assured that when someone who contested an election gets the chance to become an MP through a casual election, they generally want to submit their candidature.
Abela now has five of his MPs chosen by co-option, the latest being Andy Ellul, a close associate of Muscat who helped Abela get elected against Chris Fearne.
These five MPs do not owe their loyalty to their constituents but to Abela himself, which further reduces the checks and balances necessary in government.
Abela’s modus operandi makes it clear that just, like his predecessor, his main interest is power through loyalty and he is ready to use taxpayer money abusively to achieve it.
This is the reason I could no longer feel comfortable in the Labour Party and I believe Malta urgently needs to vote Labour out of power.
We need a government that truly understands its obligations towards the citizens of Malta, rather than a government that systematically abuses the system for personal gain.
Charles Azzopardi is a PN candidate and former Rabat mayor elected on the Labour Party ticket.