Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1197486
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JANUARY 2020 NEWS ROBERT Abela has promised continuity with Joseph Muscat despite the latter's dramatic fall from grace, while Chris Fearne morbidly promised to adorn his tombstone with the 'RIPN' epithet. Both are trying to ap- peal to a cohort of Labour die- hards who still adore Muscat and other paid-up members. But anyone elected must reach out to a wider electorate of vot- ers whose trust in Labour has been seriously dented by the dark shadow cast on Castille by Daphne Caruana Galizia's as- sassination. To gain back their trust, who- ever is elected must offer a de- gree of discontinuity, without throwing away the baby with the bath water. But the short campaign over Christmas and the persistent overshadowing of Muscat who will address the Labour confer- ence on the eve the vote, may not have been the best way to encourage a serious delibera- tion on Labour's future leader. Continuity or discontinuity Despite denouncing "a dia- bolical pact" to anoint Fearne leader and presenting himself as an insurgent, it is Robert Abela who has markedly pre- sented himself as the continu- ity candidate who emphasises stability, unity and normality, telling MaltaToday "we cannot turn the world upside down". Fearne has been bolder in ad- vocating change, committing himself to "clean the country's reputation from any stain," en- sure "truth is revealed and that justice prevails", and "that Mal- ta once again comes first and foremost". His is the clearest indication that something has long been wrong in the state of Denmark. Dealing with Muscat Fearne came closest to dis- owning his predecessor in an interview criticising Muscat for thanking his former chief- of-staff Keith Schembri for his service upon resignation; and for saying he could "not vouch for anyone" when asked about Muscat's innocence in the mur- der of Caruana Galizia or its cover-up. While recognising that Mus- cat "did a lot of good for this country" he pledged firmer governance, stronger institu- tions, transparency and fair- ness. In contrast Abela – him- self the son of Muscat's main rival in the 2008 leadership contest – has been very care- ful not to offend Muscat's die- hard followers, promising that he would consult with Muscat whom he presently advises as consultant, on a regular basis. Subsequently Abela clarified that while he may consult with Muscat, he will make his own decisions if elected. Dealing with Schembri and Mizzi Both candidates have exclud- ed the return of Konrad Mizzi to the Cabinet. In what might well have been an attempt at self-preservation, Mizzi did endorse Fearne's candidature before Abela announced his, but this has also to be seen in a context of district rivalry and Fearne's past attempts to dis- tance himself from the Vitals hospital privatisation scandal. Both candidates have not minced their words on Keith Schembri, whom both seem to resent. In a powerful dig against Schembri, Fearne promised to abolish the post of chief-of-staff in the OPM, insisting that the highest office in government could not have "two power cen- tres". He also said that "it was Keith Schembri, not Labour, that was too close to big busi- ness". Robert Abela is also reported to have directly confronted Jo- seph Muscat in a stormy Cabi- net meeting, which led to his resignation by telling him "that bastard fucked you". Further muddying the waters was a re- cent declaration by Schembri's henchman, Neville Gafà, that "people demand continuity… not a new beginning" which seemed more in tune with Ab- ela's continuity pledge. But this may also be seen as a desperate attempt at self-preservation by Gafà who had been fired from the health ministry by Fearne. Reaching out to civil society protestors While Abela has gone on re- cord describing protests asking Muscat to step down immedi- ately as a "provocation", Fearne says he has heard those protests and that "now it is time to seek consensus and implement so- lutions so that what happened will not happen again." When asked whether he would put a stop to the removal of flowers and candles form the Daphne Caruana Galizia vigil, Fearne said his job will be of "healing wounds and not per- petuating them". Neither did he exclude building a monument for Daphne Caruana Galizia if it is "the will of the people". On his part Abela sympathised with the pain of the Caruana Galizia family: "I understand that their mother was killed… so I can understand from a fam- ily sentiment, and I have a sense of sadness about all this". Cleaning Malta's international reputation Of the two candidates it was Fearne who mostly emphasised the need to clean up Malta's tarnished reputation, speaking more like a future Prime Min- ister than as a leadership con- tender. One striking point of depar- ture from Muscat is Fearne's commitment to reform the In- dividual Investor Programme, which he will replace with a new scheme negotiated with Brussels which "does not harm Malta's image abroad". Fearne was also very categorical in de- scribing the damage to Malta's international reputation as "al- most irreparable." On his part Abela said that he does not agree with the term "political nightmare" as a de- scription of Malta's current situation, while describing the current period as one of dif- ficulty, which requires a "clear vision" on how the country can come out of it with its reputa- tion recovered and intact. He will also retain the IIP. Choosing the next police commissioner Both candidates agree that the current police commissioner Lawrance Cutajar should not remain commissioner. But they have differed on the way his replacement should be ap- pointed. While Fearne believes that the commissioner should be subject to the approval of a two-thirds majority in parlia- ment, Abela wants him to be chosen following a public call and parliamentary grilling. Fearne's proposal was first made by the Nationalist Party under Simon Busuttil and was opposed by Muscat's party. But Fearne now insists that the country needs unity to find solutions that addressed the deficiencies in the rule of law. "We cannot be proud of our- selves and oppose something simply because we did so in the past… we have to find solu- tions to the problems," Fearne told MaltaToday. But while Abela has expressed reserva- tions about the proposal made by Fearne he still insists he will seek consensus with the Oppo- sition. The redneck vote: Immigration and hunting While Fearne has focused on rule of law issues, Abela has been keener on addressing public concerns on immi- gration and sectoral issues like hunting. In this Abela seems more in synch with the younger Muscat who had pandered to con- cern on migration and disgruntlement among hunters, before the 2013 election. Fearne did list im- migration as one of his priorities in the first hun- dred days, but did n o t reject Muscat's cosmopolitan- ism, arguing that "the country needs to overhaul its infrastruc- ture, such as sewage, to keep up with the drastically increasing population. As for irregular migration, he said that while he would con- tinue to be "compassionate", Malta needed to show a strong hand. In September, following riots, Abela had already indi- cated a more hawkish stance arguing for a more "hardline" approach on migrants who cause unrest while being kept in detention. Moreover, Abela has pinned a slowdown in wages to Malta's foreign worker influx, propos- ing that permits to employ for- eigners should not be handed out unless employers pay them their full salaries in their bank accounts. With regard to hunt- ing, he promised the introduc- tion of administrative fines for hunters in breach of minor ir- regularities as well as a point Which of Labour's two candidates stands more for discontinuity with the style and policies of Joseph Muscat? JAMES DEBONO delves into their public statements made over the past few weeks The Labour contest: Choosing between continuity and change