What new start?

So new Labour is re-inventing itself to a newer version. According to its latest slogan (Bidu gdid) it intends to start all over again. Although the 1992 New Labour has barely reached puberty, the cracks were starting to show. I wholeheartedly agree. If Labour stands an iota of a chance of winning the next contest then a makeover is truly necessary.

The not so new "worn and torn" aspiring winning team has been partly revitalised and the two thirds of the troika are not named George. The revamped triumvirate pledges to renovate its modus operandi and will strive hard to sever ties, not only with Old Labour this time, but also with new Labour.

Gone (but not forgotten!) are the days when the 1990s' New Labour declared war on the Nationalists (gwerra, gwerra, gwerra). Gone also is its battle cry promoting the biblical eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth treatment of its political rivals.

By distancing itself from its past and shredding previous policies to pieces old, new or newer Labour (what's in a name) is more than likely to fail. Leopards cannot really get rid of their spots, can they?

The various editions of Labour have regaled us with optimum performances in political acrobatics: integration with Britain, independence; local councils; VAT and European Union membership just to mention a few. New Labour had also alleged that the Nationalist government was illegitimate and newer Labour still insists in fits and starts that the partnership won the 2003 referendum!

Apart from freezing Malta's EU application, new or newer Labour wanted to suspend the closure of the monstrous rubbish dumps and the upgrading of Sant'Antnin plant, proposing to create four new recycling plants instead! It also wanted to delay, indefinitely, the much needed pension reform. It refused to play tango with MCESD and attempted to place spokes in the wheels on the ongoing privatisation exercise. It opposed the restructuring measures undertaken to arrest our coffers' haemorrhage and opted to devaluate the Maltese lira by 10 per cent.

Labour has made it its sacred mission to shoot down "at all costs" any of the government's policies. It has had 14 years to grow and develop and, in its "cool and relaxed way", it has had ample time to think, contemplate, meditate, study, assess, analyse, appraise, evaluate, determine... Decide. And, finally, do away with its endless rhetoric. Publishing recycled "discussion" papers is simply not good enough.

The newer Labour Party, still led by the same old Labour leader, will want to renew, step by step (pass wara pass) I imagine, not only Malta, but itself. I would have hoped that the leader would also promote this new image in a "responsible, calm, civil, accountable and transparent" manner and refrain, once and for all, from recycling insults to "the friends of friends" or "barons". Neither did I expect the leader to censor the media nor compare its members to snakes and sourpuss, or cackling chickens in a coop. Seriously, is this what Labour re-branding is all about?

Old habits die hard. Like its carbon copies, newer Labour still derives pleasure from casting shadows, from zooming in on a make-believe gloomy Malta and totally missing the bigger picture. When will it learn to amplify its lens, broaden its horizon, criticise constructively and cooperate with the government for the common good?

Now that would really be more than a facelift, wouldn't it?