The political left displayed another crack within its ranks over the EU yesterday, when the newly-appointed leader of the anti-EU membership Campaign for National Independence implicitly expressed disagreement with Labour leader Alfred Sant on the referendum question.
Prof. Albert Leone Ganado, the CNI leader, was speaking at the Palace in Valletta during a call on President Guido de Marco. He was asking Prof. de Marco to use his influence as President so that the anti-EU lobby would "immediately" be provided with a secretariat and information officers.
In the course of his comments, he went on to refer to the holding of referenda "in the majority of European countries" as the highest means of expression of the people's wishes - the government is to hold one on EU membership some time next year.
Indirectly, the expressed thought amounted to telling Dr Sant that the Labour leader would be ignoring the people's will - Dr Sant has said Labour would not be bound by the result of the EU referendum, which, as he puts it, "is binding only on the government which organises it".
CNI backs Labour on the EU issue - at a meeting with Dr Sant on Saturday, the CNI said it was "four-square" behind the Labour Party where it concerned the European Union. The Labour Party wants the closest relations with the EU short of membership.
Prof. Leone Ganado, who only last month took over at the CNI from former prime minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, was leading a CNI delegation at the meeting with Prof. de Marco.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici seemed himself to be indicating another crack in the left when he stepped down from CNI to team up with his predecessor as Labour prime minister, Dom Mintoff, in the Front Maltin Inqumu (FMI) - the front opposes not membership but the government's conduct of its negotiations with the EU.
"This will be the first counter-balancing step to the Malta-EU Information Centre," Prof. Leone Ganado said about his secretariat request.
He said CNI would have no alternative but to appeal to the parliamentary institutions in Brussels should the balance remain in favour of the 'yes' lobby.
"We therefore appeal to you to use the moral strength of the President's office to ensure that the 'no' lobby is given the same facilities and tools as the 'yes' lobby," Prof. Leone Ganado said.
He warned that the EU should not use its enlargement fund to influence the outcome of the referendum.
"Malta is a small country, so even a little interference from overseas could influence the referendum result," he argued.
Prof. Leone Ganado said the manner in which the referendum question was phrased could also have an influence on the outcome.
Unfortunately, he said, perhaps to emphasise the importance of the referendum even more, the referendum and local elections in Malta were perceived to be nothing more than "preliminary rounds in the run-up to the general election".
Prof. de Marco said he had taken note of the CNI's comments and would help as far as his role would allow him to. But he emphasised that the President's responsibility was to protect the constitution.
"The government and the opposition have their separate views (on the EU), but it is the Maltese who will ultimately decide.
"The Maltese people have a right to a fair hearing. That is democracy - it is a wealth of opinions," Prof. de Marco said.