It's still Europe

Malta has become the 12th country to ratify the EU constitutional treaty. It has been a foregone conclusion for some time now that the Labour Party would agree to its ratification. Well done to the MLP!

Malta has become the first country to ratify the treaty unanimously. It is likely to remain the only one. The reservations are nothing but a sop to the party faithful reassuring them that Labour have not abandoned the principles of sovereignty and social justice. In reality they mean nothing because as Alfred Sant himself admitted these values are embedded in the treaty itself. They add nothing to the treaty.

On a strategic level, the leadership has managed the issue very well. Knowing that in their heart of hearts the Labour grassroots were against all that smacked of the EU, they started the process at the very centre, the group that could be controlled best. The issue was debated in the parliamentary group reportedly rather freely and passionately but always behind closed doors, thus limiting the damage that otherwise would have been inflicted. The group bound itself that the will of the majority would prevail, as it should be. But the leadership constrained all those who were against from appealing to other structures. Some eight deputies, who could have proved to be focal points round which the true sentiments would have surfaced and rallied, were muzzled. The national executive could not but approve the lead given by the "united" parliamentary group.

The MLP's crie de guerre had nothing to do with the Constitution. Its motivation, which had to be made explicit in order to convince the faithful, was that not to deal with the matter now would be tantamount to having to face the issue nearer to the next election. That, the party faithful were told, would mean snatching defeat out of an already assured victory. Knowing how Labour supporters are thirsting for a long-sought victory after witnessing an unexpected triumph in 1996 thrown to the winds by an inept leader, this was an effective tune to play. Labour delegates had to be convinced to forget all that they were force-fed in the most vehement of ways in the interest of electoral victory.

That was enough to defeat all the consistent logic and pure passion that Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici was expected to mount. Probably most delegates and Labour supporters had their hearts with him but Dr Mifsud Bonnici cannot lead them to victory at the polls or anywhere. From their point of view he may be right but he is wrong. He cannot put hurdles in their search for the Holy Grail. And yet 14 per cent of the delegates, while failing to support his position openly, supported his motion when it came to the vote. Surely these are not personal supporters of the man but they cannot come round to see paradise in what two years ago had been Satan's realm.

Thank heavens once more that Dr Sant's position prevailed. But the Labour leadership may yet regret the professed motivation of their U-turn. It is a yes of convenience not of conviction. It is not true, as has been claimed, that the MLP is "a mature party putting the national interest first". Labour has arrived at the correct decision for explicitly professed partisan reasons. In so doing it is giving the impression of a half-hearted conversion which will probably convince neither friend nor foe. Leo Brincat has stated that not to ratify now would give the same message "as opening a door to withdrawing membership". Few will forget that soon after the election, the Labour leader tried to soften the fall-out from their impending change of course by declaring that it would be counterproductive to withdraw membership at the first opportunity. Doubts are also being sown by their insistence that his partnership proposal would have been preferable.

They could not do otherwise since they are still led by the same person who sermonised in such uncompromising terms as "God forbid". A new leader would have found it easier to repudiate his predecessor's position. Nay it has become a historical fact that every new Labour leader is expected not only to disagree with his predecessor but to tear his very entrails out in the process. Remember Paul Boffa, Dom Mintoff, Dr Mifsud Bonnici and now Dr Sant. I cannot help by exaggerating a bit by claiming that it is the only consistency the MLP has experienced.

So Malta will present Europe with a united stand. The country which was the most divided over the European issue will suddenly appear the most united. Yet it is ironic that the very same quarters which bemoan our utter partisan politics instead of rejoicing at the event and hoping that this new way of doing politics, so warmly advocated by the Prime Minister, is a harbinger of a more civilised political climate are having second thoughts. We are starting to hear voices calling for a referendum. As if we have not debated all issues inside out for a decade and more!

And yet the very same persons who are calling for a referendum in the same breath are questioning the utility of ratifying a treaty which has been rejected by two countries. As if we have no right to express an opinion! The old colonial mentality! The old inferiority complex! The complex that convinced thousands not to vote for independence 40 years ago lest we were gobbled up by some ogre if we let go of the colonial mother's apron strings. The same mentality which Dr Sant did his utmost to exploit just before the referendum and the last election. Remember the minnows among the whales refrain!

It is no wonder the Prime Minister is incensed at such an attitude.

Others, while rightly asking for more information and for an intelligent educational and informative campaign, profess a certain weariness of the subject. It's still Europe, they complain. Even when we have ratified the treaty, even when Labour will, out of convenience or out of conviction, become truly reconciled to Europe, the issue in one form or another will always pop up. The fact is that Europe will never go away, because it has become part of us. Europe will never be purely foreign policy domain again. It is as much internal policy. It is family. It is our extended family. There may be bickering and disagreement but it is still family. As we increasingly have our say, as we help to build it up, it will increasingly become part of us. We may quarrel with our extended kin abroad on every other issue but it will always be our Europe.

So it's only right that we are making a strong and determined statement now.

Dr Deguara is Minister for Health.