Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/534048
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 JUNE 2015 News 11 hardly helped to disprove the back- bencher's characterization of the PN leader in the eyes of the elec- torate. By contrast, Joseph Mus- cat's own 'calculated' dismissal of then deputy leader Anglu Farrugia serves as an object lesson in how to handle a similar situation in a way that causes the minimum damage possible. Having been forced to resign abruptly in December 2012, Far- rugia was visibly hurt by the move, but Muscat's public declarations on the matter were the polar oppo- site of Gonzi's treatment of Franco Debono. Also, Muscat was neither combative nor dismissive of Farru- gia's hurt feelings, acknowledging them as an understandable human reaction, while crucially turning Gonzi's misguided missive on its head by adding that Farrugia re- mained "a very relevant person who still has a lot to give to the Labour Party". By exhibiting a "combination of cold calculated political strategy with a simultaneous understand- ing of the hurt suffered by Farru- gia," Bartolo suggests that Muscat wedded his political nous to that other crucial aspect of inclusivity – empathy, particularly of the kind "faced by leaders in politics and management where hard decisions are taken but with consideration of how to still show respect to the people concerned". A 'movement' for election season In light of this, it feels significant that the PN's own post-election report characterized Labour's vic- tory as stemming principally from a 'human relations' failure on the PN's part. Bartolo flags up the in- fluence of Barack Obama's elec- toral campaign on Joseph Muscat's own – one made both by the media at the time, as well as explicitly by Labour MP Leo Brincat – to discuss how issues of empathy, compassion and inclusivity were played out throughout the course of the 2013 campaign. Just as Obama played up his mixed-race origins (white mother, black father) to assure voters that his political mission would be one of pluralism and unity, so Muscat made it a point to mention that his family was non-partisan (Labour- ite father, Nationalist mother). But according to Bartolo, the compari- son doesn't stop there. Because of their shrewd decision to appeal to as many groups within society as possible – thereby eroding, how- ever temporarily, any sharp politi- cal rifts – both Obama and Muscat succeeded in being 'entrepreneurs of identity' throughout the course of their respective campaigns. Obama publicly recognised that slaves helped build the White House, defended the right of Mus- lims to build a mosque in lower Manhattan and supported gay marriage; Muscat, meanwhile, ap- pealed to various members of civil society to form a 'movement of liberals and progressives' which, however vaguely defined, did its work of giving the party a friendly and inclusive face – a natural home for disgruntled Nationalists and switchers, and one that had shed its retrograde and violent past. This would, of course, come to full frui- tion with the Labour Party's most prominent civil liberties victory: the courting, and subsequent embrace, of the LGBTIQ community. By comparison, Bartolo argues, the Nationalists were made to look stultifying and antiquated, not least because of Gonzi's misreading of the public mood during the divorce referendum. Though their econom- ic record was sound – not insignifi- cant given they were in power dur- ing the global economic recession – Bartolo suggests that the PN's attitude towards the electorate re- mained somewhat condescending. In other words, that it missed the crucial elements of empathy and inclusiveness. "The PN had consistently pre- sented itself as an elite party with the right decision-making skills for Malta and distanced itself from the 'shameful' record of the PL, associ- ated with violence and 'disastrous' national policy decisions, that could not be an alternative government," Bartolo writes, adding that such a stand was rightly viewed as prob- lematic even by non-partisan me- dia commentators, who interpreted it as implying that those who vote Labour are by definition wrong- headed. "At the same time," Bartolo writes, "the PL underlined the divisiveness of the PN and interpreted its 'elite' branding as tribal, non-egalitarian and anachronistic". treljic@mediatoday.com.mt Labour victory down to empathy Approved and issued by HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. 116, Archbishop Street, Valletta VLT1444 which is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Grow your business internationally with our €75 million Malta Trade for Growth Fund HSBC has announced an additional €75 million Malta Trade for Growth Fund to help Maltese businesses trade internationally. If you run a Maltese business with global aspirations, talk to us today DQGVHHKRZ\RXFDQEHQHÜWIURP0DOWD7UDGHIRU*URZWKLQFHQWLYHV We can help you take your business further. €75 million Call 2380 7000 ClickEXVLQHVVKVEFFRPPWPLOOLRQ Fences mended: Joseph Muscat makes up with Anglu Farrugia, who had been sacked as party deputy leader