Motion to turn party into a movement

Labour Party deputy leader Toni Abela yesterday made an impassionate appeal for discrimination against people of all political shades to end, insisting it was "ugly" and "unfair".

Talking on the first day of the Labour Party's marathon general conference, Dr Abela said discrimination against non-Labourites hurt him as much as discrimination against Labour supporters did.

"If the Labour Party is in government, people can bank on me to defend them against any form of discrimination because it hurts me," Dr Abela said. He then accused the government of discriminating against KullĦadd editor Wenzu Mintoff, who was accused by his employer, Malta Enterprise, of conflict of interest.

Dr Mintoff was asked to choose between his job as legal adviser to Malta Enterprise and his unpaid job as editor of Labour's Sunday newspaper.

"Wenzu Mintoff was accused of having a conflict of interest but the same company employed the Nationalist Party's international secretary," Dr Abela said.

This general conference will be a 10-day marathon intended to lay down the political groundwork for the creation of a movement of "progressives and moderates".

Of particular note was the absence of the words Labour Party in the background where emphasis was laid on the words "A new movement for a better country", the party's rallying call since Joseph Muscat's election as leader.

Ironically, the conference started with the PL's traditional anthem that invokes its roots as a workers' party.

The hallmark of the conference is a motion listing 44 principles, which would underpin the new movement.

Dr Abela kick-started the debate on the motion insisting the party had to change to reflect the aspirations of today's society. "We have to stop talking only of workers. We have to widen our vision and defend even those people who invest to generate jobs," he said to applause from the floor.

"We ask investors and businessmen to observe workers' rights and they will find us four square behind them," he said.

Drawing a distinction between conservative and progressive politics, Dr Abela insisted the Labour movement believed in an economy that served as a tool to be used at the service of the people.

"On the contrary, the government has turned people into a tool at the service of the economy," he added.

Referring to the motion, Dr Abela said it was calling for a mentality change. "Today's society is different; there are different family set-ups and we cannot ignore them," he said making reference to cohabiting families, separated individuals and single mothers, among others.

Dr Abela concluded his speech, which overshot the allocated time by some 15 minutes, by urging caution against complacency, insisting victory in the next election was not a done deal.

Various speakers before him harped on the importance of welcoming with open arms anybody who approached the party even if they were never part of it.

However, it was MEP Louis Grech who made a strong appeal for a change in mentality, warning that slogans on their own were irrelevant if they were not put into practice.

"It is useless talking about equal rights for women but retain a mentality that is 30 years old. It is useless to reiterate our commitment to defend the vulnerable but continue to harbour prejudices against various groups of people," Mr Grech said.

The conference will be discussing various amendments to the party statute, the more important one being the removal of the general secretary's post to be replaced with the non-elective post of secretary to the executive.

Most of the discussions will be held in fringe meetings with each workshop then presenting its conclusions to the plenary.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com