Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/513060
MATTHEW VELLA THE Labour Party, a member of the international grouping of socialist parties since 1955, has been delisted from the Socialist International for not paying its membership fees. Labour, which became part of the democratic socialist association just four years after the International was formed, is now affiliated to the Party of European Socialists and the Inter- national Union of Socialist Youth. Labour joined the Socialist Inter- national under the leadership of Dom Mintoff, who became leader in 1949 after splitting from Paul Boffa who went on to form the Malta Workers Party. As prime minister Mintoff actively lobbied to have Malta host the So- cialist International in 1973, but Is- raeli prime minister Golda Meir had warned she would not attend because of Mintoff 's anti-Israeli remarks in parliament and his statement that if he were a Palestinian, he would join in hijacking and other terrorist ac- tivities. Under Joseph Muscat, who as- sumed the leadership in 2008, the Labour party went on to be demoted to observer status for not paying its membership fees in 2012, and was formally delisted in December last year. In comments to MaltaToday, party president Daniel Micallef said La- bour was "still working to strengthen its foreign relations, both in Europe and internationally, including with other member parties within the So- cialist International." Micallef however said, without specifying, that there are "pending issues with the same organisation, brought forward along [with] other parties, mostly European. The PES is an associated organisation of the Socialist International, where the PL is active, and just last year, IUSY – which is a fraternal organisation within the SI – had its World Festival successfully hosted here in Malta by the PL and FZL." A spokesperson for the Socialist International confirmed that the delisting of Labour was automatic after the party failed to pay its mem- bership fees. SI could not confirm the membership fee due. Other parties have however sig- nalled their opposition to the SI for hosting socialist parties that are per- ceived to be undemocratic, leading Germany's Social Democratic Party in 2013 to found a rival international network of social-democratic parties known as the Progressive Alliance. Labour's international secretary until recently was former foreign minister Alex Sceberras Trigona, who has been succeeded by the young Marc Vella Bonnici. Vella Bonnici, son of Identity Mal- ta's executive chairman Joe Vella Bonnici – a former Labour candi- date – is actually employed to handle "special projects" for Malta's non- resident ambassador to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and consul to Ukraine, John Debono. Debono owns the Triton group of companies, which specialises in ship- ping logistics, engineering, as well as aircraft chartering, outside catering, film servicing, incentive travel, prop- erty development and billboards cus- tomarily used by the Labour Party. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 MAY 2015 News Labour Party officially delisted from Socialist International Dom Mintoff took Labour into the Socialist International, and now Joseph Muscat has presided over its delisting from the group