Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1189024
10 maltatoday | MONDAY • 2 DECEMBER 2019 ANALYSIS The hand that rocked the throne KURT SANSONE JOSEPH Muscat's ascent to the leader- ship of the Labour Party in 2008 brought with it a radical transformation of the party structures and strategy. Muscat inherited a broken and dysfunctional party and changed it into a modern, slick corporate structure with a cam- paigning machine that outsmarted the opposition in every way. Muscat delivered a mean machine, which, coupled with his push towards the centre, delivered Labour's first big victory a year later in the 2009 European Parliament election. Behind that radical transformation were various people that Muscat roped in the moment he stepped into his office at Labour HQ. One of those people was Keith Schembri, a relatively unknown businessman, who had supported Mus- cat's personal election campaign when he contested the first EP election in 2004. The look-and-feel of Muscat's 2004 campaign was to become the precur- sor of the PL's modern outlook when he eventually became leader four years later, to become the brains behind the corporate shift in the PL's outlook. And then he pocketed two major electoral Labour wins in 2013 and 2017, with never-seen-before majorities of well above 36,000 votes. Politically, the man climbed to the crest of the wave occupy- ing Malta's second most powerful job in politics. A bridge to business With no official post within the party, Schembri acted as a consultant at large for Muscat. He even accompanied Mus- cat, then Opposition leader, on official overseas trips to Libya and Dubai. Schembri, with others, had been a key person in Muscat's strategy to turn the PL into a "pro-business" party. With his contacts in the business community, Schembri was an ideal bridge. Being pro-business became Muscat's mantra as he moved the party towards the centre and captured the electorate's imagination to secure a historic win in 2013. From Bormla, Schembri started off in the family business at his father's print- ing press. He eventually branched out and formed the Kasco Group that be- came the largest paper supplier on the island. Eventually, his group grew and ex- panded its business interests and today includes food imports, engineering ser- vices, recycling and high-end furniture supplies. Schembri resigned from the director- ships of his companies when he was ap- pointed chief of staff in the Office of the Prime Minister after the 2013 general election. He entrusted the running of his companies to his managers but re- tained the shareholding in the company. The resignation was meant to distance Schembri from his business interests and quash any potential conflicts of in- terest, given his new high profile job in the government's boiler room. Schem- bri was Muscat's person of trust. But for people close to the Prime Min- ister, Schembri was much more than that. "Keith Schembri is the brother Joseph Muscat never had and their personal friendship goes back in time," is how the relationship between the two was described. Many close to Muscat believe that it was this personal friendship that pre- vented Muscat from asking Schembri to resign in 2016 when Daphne Caruana Galizia and later the Panama Papers un- covered the chief of staff's plan to create an offshore company. When questioned after the 2013 gen- eral election about the judiciousness of appointing a businessman as chief of staff, Muscat said Schembri would bring with him the private sector's mentality to get things done. Indeed Schembri would hound minis- ters on deadlines, chase them on pend- ing issues, and make sure the govern- ment's message was coherent. He would also be involved in many meetings with potential investors and have a hand in ensuring that major gov- ernment projects are delivered. In his public role Schembri was privy to all government workings, projects, contracts, and now it transpires even sensitive national security information shared by the Security Service. One insider who worked inside the Auberge de Castille up until 2017, gives a Janus-like depiction of Keith Schem- Keith Schembri was not an elected official but held high public office at the behest of his long-time friend Joseph Muscat. KURT SANSONE tracks Schembri's rise and fall