People • 23 March 2003

Laws from Brussels can be defied

Toni Abela has some original ideas about the referendum; thinks our Prime Minister has a provincial outlook and refuses to comment about Alternattiva Demokratika. Julian Manduca caught up with Dr Abela who emphasised that he does not speak on behalf of the MLP

Toni Abela is known to all Maltese; a maverick politician and lawyer whose humorous quips at any event make up for the dirth of humour of Maltese politicians.

Toni Abela is a man with a silver tongue that twists and turns. His dialectic talents are so great that he can almost convince any crowd of anything he deems fit. At a party one never knows whether his latest yarn is the most important thing one has heard that day, or pure and unadulterated fiction.

Everyone knows Toni Abela now, but few will know much about him as a young man: "I was not very different from what I am now."

"I was not a bully, and at times I was bullied because it was always impossible for me to restrain myself when it came to words."

"Academically I was sometimes at the top of the class and other times not; I was always with those that fared a bit better."

In the top ten? I ask.

"If you want to look at it from a musical point of view, yes?"

Toni Abela is a lawyer and a particularly active one, but first and foremost, he is a political animal.

"I was born and bred in a highly politically oriented family and I always admired those people who managed to express themselves in a loquacious manner, and most of the people that fell in that category were lawyers. But before being a lawyer, I was always attracted to politics.

"When I was a student I was active in several political organisations; the Socialist Youth Forum at sixth form and also the university socialist student group GHSSU. One of the principles that always determined our way of looking at politics was auto-criticism.

"We were much more interested in ways to ameliorate the conditions of our party than those of the Opposition. At the age of about sixteen I was already active in the Labour Party."

The Labour Party leadership was quick to recognise Toni Abela’s potential and at the age of 29 he was made president of the party.

I asked him what influenced his political life. "I would say I was driven by a mixture of both Labour working class principles, which I felt myself to be very close to, and was obsessed with reading about socialist ideas, and later the ideas of new left. Especially Polansas, Marcuse, Althusser and Lucio Colletti, who recently crossed to Alleanza Nazionale, much to my disappointment. I was very distressed by his death in Venice."

"I still consider myself a social democrat. Obviously the radical ideas did not remain as they were when I was very young. I believe that one should adopt a pragmatic approach to this kind of political belief; but one thing I have never been in favour of orthodox socialism like that of the former Eastern states."

"One of the persons who really made me think of what democratic socialism could be was Enrico Berlinguer, especially his 1973 address to the Communist Party in Italy when he said the then Soviet Union had lost its historical propulsion when it came to true communism.

"Interestingly enough, at that time we were also following closely what was happening in Spain with Santiago Carrio and the first time ever the phrase Euro-Communism was coined. This led us to believe that one could have a mixture of socialist idea within a society notwithstanding its market economy.

Toni Abela hit the headlines when together with Wenzu Mintoff he was kicked out of the Malta Labour Party and, with others, went on to found the Green party Alternattiva Demokratika.

He is very adamant to point out that he never left the MLP.

"That is a very common missconception. Mintoff and I resigned from our posts as parliamentary whip and president as a protest against corruption and violence which we still believe predominated in the Party at that time, but we remained members until the General Conference decided we should be expelled.

"We had addressed the Conference defending our position on the sorry state of the Party hoping to remain, we fought to remain, but were expelled."

I ask Abela whether the Labour Party should apologise for the years of violence and corruption.

"It is not a matter of apologising. In politics people rarely apologise. If you consider the recent debacle between the Prime Minister and Sant, about Fenech Adami’s son and his entry into the university, the Prime Minister admitted to being wrong, but did not apologise. In private, people do apologise, but apologies are not so much forthcoming when it comes to politics."

"When I look back at those times I say to myself that Malta was passing through what I call the post-colonial spasms, and we had these even after 1987."

I ask Abela how he could explain that position to a child that attended a demonstration in the eighties that was attacked by thugs while the police looked on.

"That was bad. That was bad. It was as bad as when I went to the Fososs recently and was kicked and slapped on the face. I don’t expect an apology. The Nationalist Party condemned the incident but said we provoked. I cannot see where the provocation was since the meeting was labelled a national one and the Prime Minister even appealed to Labourite’s to attend."

I ask Abela whether he believes action should be taken against those that have been violent and his reply was "I found it very much to my satisfaction that recently several youth organisations held a press conference on the steps of the Labour Party headquarters condemning the Labour Party declarations and yet they were not assaulted. That is a sign of change when talking about violence and intolerance. But on other hand just look what happened to me and Wenzu."

I bring Abela to the present and ask him for his interpretation of the recent referendum result. "Looking at the outcome with hindsight what I say is this: today it was useless holding a referendum before the elections, when the elections are so close and will be the deciding factor on whether Malta joins the EU or not.

"It would have been better if there was an election and, if the PN was elected, it would not have been necessary to hold a referendum. Whereas now things are very much undecided.

"If EU accession were to happen within the legislative life of this government I am sure the referendum would not have been held and am sure the Nationalist Party would have concurred with the Labour Party that the elections would decide the matter for us."

"I am disappointed to say that I have an innate feeling the referendum was held to gauge where the Nationalists stand in preparation for a general election. If that was the intention it should be condemned."

On referendum day two sides claimed victory. I ask Abela how that could be: "In Malta all referenda results have been subjected to interpretation. What I find very strange is that the first time somebody called on another to interpret the results was even before these were published. That was the Prime Minister in a radio debate with the leader of the Opposition on PBS. I found this very strange. If the Prime Minister had the idea of a clear result he would not have asked this question."

I push Toni Abela for a straight answer to my question about whether there was a clear winner at the referendum but he chooses to take a tack resembling that of the lawyers that impressed him as a young man: "In our circumstances I would say the referendum was inconclusive. If find it very strange that at times we refer to other countries being more democratic than Malta and say that such a result would have been recognised by the losers in those countries.

"But in other instances we did not follow democratic principles in Malta. In 1981 the Nationalist Party caused havoc over the election results and made it nearly impossible for Parliament to function when it declared a boycott, all because of a 2,001 vote difference (the PN had 4,000 more votes, but Labour would have needed 2001, to have the majority). However, all over the world the number of votes does not reflect the number of seats obtained by the party, we saw this in the US and it always happens in the UK, but abroad everyone sticks to the rules."

Several Labour MPs have suggested that Labour could hold a referendum should it be elected to power, I ask Abela whether he agrees: "It depends what the party has in mind. If it intends to hold a referendum with a different question e.g. Would one agree to accede to the EU under the conditions negotiated by the PN or a partnership approach? That would be a totally different question and would allay the fears of those who in the last referendum, notwithstanding being Nationalist, voted against the EU. It will encourage all the people to vote and I would agree on such a referendum provided funds are allocated equally to both sides, unlike what has happened."

I still try to get a straight answer and ask whether Abela believes Partnership won.

Abela opposes EU membership for a variety of reasons:

"Politically Malta the first microstate ever to join the EU would be overwhelmed by the structures which lead to the most important decisions of the EU.

"Secondly, the EU is clearly evolving into a federal state and this can be confirmed by the draft Convention of Giscard D’Estaing.

"And thirdly we have not taken the bull by the horns but by its tail: unless Parliament decides to amend as much as 40 percent of the Constitution, Malta can never fall in line with what the EU really wants."

"The Constitution’s sections on the parliament, the courts, the executive and the interpretation clause would have to be changed for Malta to function properly within the EU. Some clauses by simply majority, but others would require two thirds of the house."

"The two big political parties should have started talks to change the Constitution ages ago. Most of the important Constitutional orders cannot be touched unless by a two- thirds resolution. If we think the EU Directives and laws, are going to apply to Malta without parliamentary intervention we are mistaken. The EU requires that once a Directive is issued by the Commission or the Council of Ministers, this is to apply as if it was part of Maltese law, but any Maltese could defy those laws as they would not have been passed by Malta’s parliament. According to the Constitution it is only the Malta Parliament that has jurisdiction and any laws coming from Brussels could be challenged unless the Constitution is changed."

Abela admits there were times when he considered the EEC as an option for Malta, "There were times when one could have considered joining the EEC. But the EEC and EU are totally different. I never supported the idea that Malta should join the EU."

I ask Toni Abela where he would be left if Labour was to change its tack on EU membership:

"That is so hypothetical a question that one cannot answer categorically. It depends on what the Labour Party would do on certain derogations. It depends what the Labour Party gets should it decide to re-negotiate."

I ask Toni Abela whether he believes the MLP could bring Malta up to EU standards: "in its one and a half years in government the Labour Party lost popularity for trying to improve traffic regulations; trying to decrease absenteeism from work and downsizing expenses. All these enraged Labour supporters who wanted a part of cake, but Labour stuck firm."

"One has to focus on Alfred Sant here. He has taken a stand saying that Malta is not in a position to join the EU and is described as a Euro-sceptic, but he has a much more European mentality looking at things from a political and organisational point of view.

"Sant is much more lay in his ideas. Less clerical. This reflects on the Labour style of leadership having at the helm a person who is not necessarily insular and religious from a political point of view. On the other hand Eddie Fenech Adami still has a very provincial outlook on Maltese society. He lacks lay ideas and is much more insular in approach when it comes to dealing with the electorate and yet he is a Europhile."

Again I ask for a straight reply to my question about EU standards: "I believe that if you have a person who decides to impose certain standards and conditions without falling to the threats of the electorate, that person could bring Malta up to EU standards. That man could be Alfred Sant."

I ask whether it would not be better to have EU help to achieve the standards:

"We have yet to see how much finance will come to Malta after 2006 with the rest of the eastern European countries much more in need of finance than us. After 2006 we will not fall within the objective one of the EU. The poor performance of this government in obtaining Lm81 million, Lm27 million only being in cash, equivalent to the price of the sale of Mid-Med bank to HSBC, I would say that if this is a reflection of things to come I would not bet so much on finance from the EU.

"Some money will come but whether it will be enough to solve our environmental problems for example, is in doubt."

And where might the government get the money should Malta not join the EU?

"We have lost a lot of opportunities. When Lebanon collapsed we did not trap the opportunities that arose. When Yugoslavia fell to pieces we did not take advantage in the tourism industry. When Malta collected levies, instead of using the money to help small companies restructure we used what was collected as we use other taxes."

I ask Toni Abela whether he sees the Labour party as a party for social change including divorce, gay rights and abortion.

"The Labour party was the only party that established a Commission to analyse the possibility of having divorce and its impacts on Maltese society."

"I am in favour of gay rights myself, but I cannot talk for the Labour Party as I cannot talk for it about abortion.

"Abortion should be discussed in certain circumstances but I am not if favour of liberal abortion."

It is only a few short years ago that Dr Toni Abela left AD, the party he helped to form, but he was unwilling to talk about the party. "I would rather not comment on AD," he told me.

The elections?

"I’m sure they are going to be close. That is as much as I can say."