Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545062
LABOUR will remain ground- ed and open to criticism even if it manages to secure a record fourth- straight election mandate, party president Alex Sciberras insists. With a week to go until Mal- ta heads to the polls, Sciberras says Labour had many opportu- nities to become big-headed, but remained open to criticism and close to the people. "Our strength as a party lies with the people. The moment we distance ourselves is the moment we lose," he says. "We were never arrogant with the people." A former activist in his youth days, Sciberras also insists the party's socialist roots are trans- mitted in their electoral pledges. He tells me that even Labour's biggest pledges are rooted in so- cial justice. "The super bonus has a double effect—it gives aide to people with lower income, but it also gives an injection to the economy. We saw this kind of fiscal policy work in the past and we seek to continue in that same way. For me it re- mains a major socialist pledge in the manifesto," he says. Labour since 2013 have enact- ed progressive legislation on civil rights but in this year's manifesto the only pledge of this kind is a referendum on assisted euthana- sia. Asked why the party sought to go down this route, rather than seek an election mandate to pass legislation in parliament, Sciber- ras insists this is not Labour be- coming less inclined to push such reforms but a recognition that the topic deserves wide debate. "To bury such legislation in a wider discussion that is a general election I think would be a dis- service to the argument and we would be running away from re- sponsibility," he tells me. On former prime minister Jo- seph Muscat, Sciberras says he remains a respected individual within the party, and his follow- ing is testament to his standing within the party. But Sciberras tells me it is up to the people to decide when ques- tioned whether Muscat is a lia- bility for the party on a national scale. Alex Sciberras: 'We were never arrogant with the people' With less than a week to go before Malta heads to the polls, Labour Party President Alex Sciberras sits down with Karl Azzopardi to discuss the party's future, its position on progressive ideas and what former leader Joseph Muscat contributes to the party 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 MAY 2026 INTERVIEW