Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1332685
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 JANUARY 2021 OPINION A report taking up two pages in last Sunday's il-mument al- leged that the current Labour Party leadership is plotting to remove three MPs from the current parliamentary group and replace them with another three who did not contest the last general elections. This speculative report claimed that Robert Abela is mulling the possibility of mov- ing out MPs Manuel Mallia, Anthony Agius Decelis, and Sil- vio Parnis and co-opting Mal- colm Paul Galea, Jo-Etienne Abela, and Josianne Cutajar to replace them. Normally, I dismiss such 'news' as unabashed specula- tion. In this case I sense that there could be some hint of truth in the unsupported alle- gation. The three sitting MPs who – according to the article – are in for the chop are among those that could possibly be regard- ed as dead wood by the Prime Minister and those who are behind his constant push to change Labour's image through – among other ways – changing the face of Labour's parliamen- tary group. There is no doubt that this can be considered as undermining the people's will as expressed in the 2017 general election. That election saw Labour led by Jo- seph Muscat win by another landslide. Joseph Muscat is no more and Labour wants the electorate to forget the sordid tale of Joseph and his gang of thieves while the PN insists that Robert Abela replacing Muscat did not change anything in the Labour Party. Using co-options of MPs to launch new faces in the gov- erning party is a Labour idea – with Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici (KMB) becoming Prime Minis- ter in December 1984 without having contested the election. The popular reaction, spurned by what was then an efficient PN propaganda machine, was to call KMB 'iz-zero' (the ze- ro) – zero being the number of votes that he got in the general election that he did not contest. Using that yardstick, the num- ber of 'zeroes' in the current parliament keeps on increasing! After he was elected Labour Leader, Joseph Muscat was giv- en a seat in Parliament through another co-option. Both co-op- tions were unusual in Malta's political history and purists might insist that this was an abusive manipulation of the co-option system that is indi- cated in our electoral law as a last resort when there is a va- cant seat in the House of Rep- resentatives and no casual elec- tion is possible. Since then, co-option has become the order of the day with parliamentary seats be- ing 'given' to people who never contested the election – to the chagrin of many who believe that MPs represent the people because the people voted for them! The PN followed Labour's ex- ample and used co-option as a manoeuvre to get into Par- liament persons who were not MPs but were elected as par- ty leaders by a voting process within the party. Now Robert Abela has gone further. He is replacing MPs who are considered dead wood by manoeuvring co-options that do not – in any way – re- flect the people's vote. This is an abuse of the elec- toral system that Robert Abela is adopting to push Labour's metamorphosis. He is doing so without bothering to consult the people whom his co-opted MPs are supposed to represent – to the extent that MPs are be- ing co-opted to represent elec- toral districts with which they have no connection. This is a case where the end justifies the means in the most Machiavellian way. From the way last Sunday's speculative article was written, depicting such moves as an in- dication of Labour's internal struggles, it seems that the PN does not seem to understand the significance of Labour's strategy. When people are called to vote in the next general elec- tion the choice they will have to make will not be between the PN and the Labour Party they voted in power in the 2017 election. The Labour Party contesting the election would have changed and would there- fore be acceptable to the swing- ers who were disappointed with the abuses and corruption un- der Joseph Muscat, after he had lured them to vote Labour. It does not seem to me that the PN is giving enough weight to the phenomenon of Labour's slow but sure changes. It just keeps on repeating that Robert Abela's administration is just a continuation of Joseph Mus- cat's while the electorate be- comes more and more aware of Labour's metamorphosis that the PN keeps on ignoring. Despite Bernard Grech's im- provement in the polls, unless the PN can plot out a strategy to counter Abela's incredible ongoing Labour metamorpho- sis, it has no chance of winning the next general election. A new page for the US The US starts a new page in its political history after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as President and Vice-Presi- dent last Wednesday. In his inaugural address Bid- en described this moment as a "historic moment of crisis and challenge" and called on Amer- ica to end its "uncivil war" in- sisting that "Unity is the path forward", in direct contrast with Trump's divisive propa- ganda. Though Biden refrained from mentioning Trump by name in his address, he used his first day in office to tacitly repudi- ate Trump by signing executive orders that reverse Trump ad- ministration measures affect- ing a range of issues, includ- ing the coronavirus crisis and climate change as well as the US rejoining the Paris climate accords and World Health Or- ganization, after Trump had withdrawn from these global organisations. Biden's speech painted US democracy as one that is resil- ient to violence in contrast to Trump's inauguration speech four years before, that paint- ed a dark picture of America. Trump had even used the term 'American carnage' in his first speech as president. One of the key messages of Biden's speech was directed at other countries who might have thought the US had lost its way. In fact, polls show that the perception of the United States in other countries had sunk to new lows during Trump's pres- idency. Biden's message to foreign countries was: "America has been tested, and we've come out stronger for it," adding "we'll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. We'll be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and security." Yet, I do not believe the US can go back to what it was be- fore Trump. He has left an in- delible dark mark in US history, while weakening the status of the US all over the globe. Labour's metamorphosis Michael Falzon micfal45@gmail.com Newly co-opted MP Oliver Scicluna takes his oath in the House of Representatives