Labour has lost its working-class roots to the establishment, says Alfred Sant

Former prime minister and Labour leader Alfred Sant believes there are not enough working-class activists in the party he once led, warning that years in government have also pulled Labour towards the “establishment”.

“It worries me that there are not many workers in the party. There used to be activists who were working-class people. Now you do not see so many,” Sant told Times of Malta.

“The party now has a middle-class approach. People might say that is because everyone has become middle class, but I do not know how true that is,” he said.

Sant, now 78, served as Labour leader between 1992 and 2008. During that time, he served as prime minister for two years, between 1996 and 1998.

He said that during his time as leader, and before that, figures such as former ministers Freddie Micallef and Freddie Portelli and former speaker and MP Kalċidon Agius all came from working-class backgrounds. Agatha Barbara and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca also came from working-class backgrounds and went on to serve as presidents of the republic.

“Agatha Barbara was destitute after the Labour Party left government in 1958,” he said by way of example.

“Nowadays, you see people who are the children of workers, but they have become professionals, usually either economists or lawyers.”

‘Lack of thinkers in today’s landscape’

Speaking to Times of Malta at his home in a wider discussion about his most recent book, Sant expanded on what he described as another “problem” in the party.

“The problem of the Labour Party is that, when you are in government for a while, you have a group of people who are pulled towards the party and become part of the establishment. This is not out of a sense of opportunism, but it’s natural,” he said.

“That is always a problem for whoever is in government,” he said.

“In government, activism means becoming part of the establishment”

Labour has been in government since 2013. Asked to clarify further, Sant said a party was always subservient to the administration when it was in government. When in opposition, or at the start of a legislature, a party attracts people for political reasons and they become active in the party, he said.

“In government, activism means becoming part of the establishment,” Sant said.

He also pointed to a lack of thinkers in today’s political landscape.

“It is on both sides. I do not see many people coming out with new works and ideas. You no longer see people like [theatre director] Mario Azzopardi or Oliver Friggieri,” he said.

One reason for that, he said, was that academia at the university had become “overly bureaucratised”.

Apart from serving as prime minister and opposition leader, Sant went on to become an MEP, while never taking a break from writing books, plays and novels.

Sant’s interview about his self-translated work, Snow on Comino, will be published soon.