Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1445232
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 JANUARY 2022 NEWS 5 it harder for Abela to keep his distance from Muscat without denouncing him. Why Muscat wants the stage Muscat's future public inter- ventions are not expected in any way to directly harm Abe- la's electoral prospects. Indeed, it could take the form of unso- licited public support for La- bour in the next election. But any return to public life will al- so have a polarising effect that would make it impossible for Abela to distance himself from his predecessor. Party insiders say Abela is not keen on upsetting the ap- ple cart months before the next election. He he counts on the support of both Muscat loyal- ists and those who think La- bour is a better alternative to the PN, but shun Muscat's leg- acy, particularly on the hospital deal. They also fear that the Vitals scandal may well be Labour's Achilles heel and a veritable time bomb in the coming elec- tion. Although Labour's lead remains unassailable, even immune to damage from cor- ruption revelations, any direct implication of Muscat in cor- ruption would backfire on Ab- ela. The PM would dread the prospect of a vocal, albeit sup- portive Muscat, preferring him to extend his sabbatical until after the election. But Muscat knows his lev- erage with Abela is with his own loyalists. Muscat could have plausibly not broken any law, but he knows magistrates probing into corruption scan- dals from his time in office, are bound to question him – so political visibility is his best de- fence against their prying eyes and possible prosecution. And what happens if he tries to put his own stamp on the seal of Abela's next victory? Could he insure himself further by taking credit for galvanizing the Labour vote? Abela does not want the next election to be about Mus- cat's legacy but his own. After months in which he failed to send out any message of dis- continuity with the Muscat era, Abela is now under pressure to defend the former leader. If push comes to shove, he may well have to give Muscat his pound of flesh. Abela sticks to his balancing act In his first reaction to Mus- cat's declaration, Abela tried to strike a balance by reiter- ating his "full trust" in the institutions while saying that he could not understand why the mobile phones of Mus- cat's daughters were seized, appearing sympathetic to his predecessor without under- mining the judiciary – albeit with a significant reminder that "institutions must safe- guard the trust placed in them". The police raid which left Muscat "half-surprised" and forthcoming with a file full of documents prepared for the police, gave Muscat an oppor- tunity to appeal to grassroots sympathies against what he called "theatrics" meant to "hu- miliate" him. Although he did not clearly blame anyone for orchestrating the raid. Significantly, Muscat had de- moted his deputy leader An- glu Farrugia on the eve of the 2013 election for criticising a magistrate; and indeed he re- frained from directly attacking the judiciary for authorising the police raid. But he found a convenient punching bag in Nationalist MP Jason Azzopar- di who on Sunday hinted that the public will "soon know" the real reason why Abela was re- luctant on approving a law for a special inquiring magistrate who does not rely on police to conduct corruption investiga- tions. By engaging in useless chat- ter, Azzopardi offered Mus- cat an opportunity to hint at collusion between the PN and investigators with the intent of humiliating him. PN leader Bernard Grech also tried to stir trouble in Labour by hinting that Abela wanted to humiliate Muscat. But such a declaration strengthens Mus- cat's position, by piling pres- sure on Abela to come to the former leader's defence. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt EMPLOYMENT POSITION EUROPEAN UNION FUNDS Applications are invited for the position of: The position requires formal qualifications and relevant work experience. Applications are received only through the Online Government Recruitment Portal (https://recruitment.gov.mt), by not later than Friday 28th January 2022 at 5:15pm (Central European Time). Further details are available in the Government Gazette of 14th January 2022. Programme Officer (EU Funds)