Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1185664
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2019 NEWS FORMER party leaders are bound to remain a reference point for party stalwarts, espe- cially when the authority of cur- rent leaders is questioned. Although party loyalty tends to prevail – as amply shown by the loyalty of the vast majority of Labourites towards Alfred Sant when his authority was under- mined by Dom Mintoff – the words of former leaders may carry more weight when cracks start to emerge in a party's cur- rent leadership. In this sense, there is a funda- mental difference between Si- mon Busuttil and Alfred Sant. For while Joseph Muscat's leadership is firmly entrenched, Adrian Delia still faces internal challenges to his authority by a faction perceived to be more loyal towards his recent prede- cessor. Busuttil had also refused to back down from active poli- tics after resigning from party leader, unlike Sant who took a back-seat role when Muscat was elected PL leader in 2008. Moreover, while Busuttil's leadership is still fresh in the memory of PN voters, Sant is now an MEP and has been out of the party's leadership for the past 11 years. Sant had kept a low profile, giv- ing Muscat the breathing space to establish himself and it was only after being elected MEP in 2014 that he started expressing some concerns on the govern- ment's economic model. Sant expressed doubts on the increase in foreign workers and the sale of public land to accom- modate speculation. He also distinguished himself by calling on Konrad Mizzi to resign fol- lowing the Panama Papers rev- elations and by expressing disa- greements with the approval of the DB project in Pembroke. Sant – a guardian of party identity? Still, it was the recent ap- proval of a permit for a villa in Qala that provided Sant with a springboard to emerge as the custodian of the party's demo- cratic socialist values in the face of what is seen by some party stalwarts as a pact with big busi- ness interests. And he is doing so in a more assertive way, avoiding cryptic messages and going as far as calling for the resignation of PA officials who enjoy the trust of the current administration. Time is on Sant's side. After being re-elected MEP for what is probably his last term, Sant can now distinguish himself as a party grandee, with the moral authority to speak up when lines are crossed. The fact that he can no longer harbour political ambitions of his own strengthens him. This has enabled Sant to dis- tinguish himself as a reference point for those in Labour who are concerned with the party's subservience to big business, es- pecially in environmental issues. His more assertive role co- incides with uncertainty on whether Muscat will still be party leader in the next general election – Sant has publicly said he sees no reason why Muscat should not continue leading the party. Yet, Sant's criticism is meas- ured and does not upset the applecart. He balances his con- cerns on environmental issues with a strong 'sovereignist' de- fence of Malta's tax and justice system, increasingly under the spotlight (even from fellow left- ists) in the European parliament. In a sense, Sant is able to ap- pear hawkish in defence of na- tional institutions thus appeal- ing to old labour's nationalistic instincts, while being critical when it comes to decisions which expose the cosiness of government with business elites. In so doing, Sant may well be giving the party a helping hand; by giving the impression that dissent can still be expressed without being destructive to the party. Sant is both a dis- sident voice and a gatekeeper. The fact that Labour does not face any real competition from its left flank renders Sant's criti- cism harmless, even if his words may carry greater weight as the party prepares for a leadership contest. It may be a different story if Sant's words trigger the forma- tion of an organised left-wing faction in the party itself. Busuttil's quest for vindication Unlike Sant, not enough time separates Busuttil's political incursions and his time at the party's helm. This does little to quell the perception that he may still harbour political ambitions of his own. The turn of events since the as- sassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, has also turned him into a reference point for civil society groups linked to an internal par- ty faction, which never accepted Delia as party leader. The withdrawal of libel pro- ceedings by Keith Schembri against Busuttil in a bid to avoid questions related to Dubai com- pany 17 Black, provided the former leader with a perfect op- portunity to reassert his moral authority in the party last week. Busuttil's standing had been bruised by the Egrant debacle last year, which found nothing against the Prime Minister and his wife. Feeling vindicated by Schem- bri's courtroom antics, Busut- til followed this by a powerful speech in parliament, during which he called on the party to organise protests against cor- ruption, thus obscuring Delia's own call for Schembri to resign. It was Delia's turn on Wednes- day to call the shots by an- nouncing the party's participa- tion in the protest organised by Repubblika and Occupy Justice, two organisations which chal- lenged his leadership. In a sense this may be Delia's way of affirming his leadership by lumping his inconvenient presence on those who are criti- cising him for not protesting against corruption. Delia may be calling their bluff; giving them a choice of either accepting his leadership on cor- ruption or stop attacking him for not doing enough to fight it. But this episode also exposes a difference between Busuttil's and Delia's strategy on address- ing the issue. The main target of Busuttil remains Muscat whom he calls out for retaining Schem- bri as chief-of-staff and there- fore being "as corrupt as he is". In a reference to the pre-2017 election mantra, Busuttil reiter- ated the "out, out, out" call when speaking in Parliament on Mon- day, as he targeted Muscat. Delia limited his call to Schem- bri's resignation. The PN leader is keener to target Schembri, thus striking a chord with those who may not think that Muscat is corrupt to the core, but are concerned by a chief-of-staff who is dragging down the gov- ernment in his judicial troubles. Ultimately, the motion ap- proved by the PN parliamen- tary group does put the onus on Muscat by asking him to remove Schembri while avoiding the pit- fall of asking for the PM's head. This could represent a golden opportunity for the PN to unite and reach out to moderates baf- fled by Schembri's refusal to face the music in a libel suite which he himself had filed. But the cir- cumstance has also degenerated into a 'who calls the shots con- test' between the PN's former and present leader. And while anger at Schembri's untenable position as chief- of-staff may be palpable even among critical Labour voters, Delia is aware that corruption, especially when expressed as an The ghosts of leaders past In very different ways former Labour leader Alfred Sant and former PN leader Simon Busuttil have made a political comeback over the past days. JAMES DEBONO analyses the implications for the respective parties