News • 11 May 2003

Bringing discipline to Labour

In the thick of Labour’s leadership race Kurt Sansone catches up with contender Dr Anglu Farrugia

Ambitious may be the right word to describe this lawyer from Mosta whose career has been a continuous ascent. From being a rank and file police officer he graduated as a lawyer. In 1996 he took the political scene by storm and was elected on the Labour Party ticket, a success he repeated in 1998 and 2003.

But Dr Anglu Farrugia’s ambition did not stop there. In 1998 he contested Dr George Vella for the post of deputy leader for parliamentary affairs mustering almost 30 per cent of the party delegates. Now, Farrugia has set his eyes on the leadership of the party.

"Everybody, knew, more or less that I was going to be one of the contenders for the post. The sign had been coming since 1998 when I was the only person contesting the deputy leadership post," Farrugia admits.

He confesses: "I did not take the decision on my own. I consulted with my wife and my daughter. Becoming party leader means that I would have to forgo my legal profession and that means less income. It was a hard decision. But I believe that I have something to offer this party."

Farrugia says he was born in a Labour family and his links with the party go back to his youthful days. In the early seventies he was president of the Mosta Labour Party youth section and together with fellow MP Marie-Louise Coleiro campaigned for a student council for the polytechnic.

He adds: "I suffered as a Labourite but I also suffered in my own party for my beliefs and I feel that I have to instil a more caring politics."

Farrugia promises to bring change to the Labour Party and one of his major concerns is the internal division within the party, which has hounded the MLP since Lino Spiteri’s resignation from minister of finance in 1997.

"It bothers me that some people in the party can do what they please while others find it difficult to even have access to certain people. Some individuals in the party and Super One have built their own small empire and that is something I cannot accept.

"The party should be a strong, open party accessible to everyone. We cannot have people staying away from party structures because the presence of certain individuals stops them from expressing their views. This is one of the issues that I will tackle immediately as party leader."

Farrugia considers the management of Super One and the financial position of the party as two other important issues to deal with.

He continues: "The Labour Party has no problem with its identity, we are a social democratic party. We have to bring back Labourites who either left the party because of certain individuals or else who did not agree with us on certain issues. This is a hard exercise but with discipline and humility we can succeed. I can work with everyone."

A former police officer, Farrugia will bring with him a sense of discipline, but he insists on the importance of a party open to discussion.

"I strongly believe in discipline. Once a decision is taken everybody should stick to it. We cannot afford having individuals being adventurous all the time because it would erode the credibility of the party. We have to have a compact party. The Nationalists have immense internal problems, but image-wise they look united.

"The party must have open discussions in all of its structures but once a decision has been taken everybody must abide by it. The worse thing that could happen is when a decision is taken by a few and the party structures are expected to just act as a rubber stamp."

Labour’s ills go back to the fateful period 1996-1998 when a brief stint in government saw it come crashing down with a bang.

Farrugia admits the government’s actions between 1996 and 1998 alienated many Labourites. "I was worried that the Labour Party was not fulfilling the aspirations of Labour Party supporters. After 10 years of Nationalist government, MLP supporters who suffered injustices were expecting relief under a Labour government."

He elaborates: "There were numerous injustices perpetrated against Labourites by the Nationalist administration. Although at the time I believed that we could have adopted a policy of national unity, but we could not leave people who had suffered to continue suffering. I was one who defended these people and their principle."

Farrugia says that one of the first laws the Labour government passed was the setting up of the tribunal for injustices. "Almost 1,400 people, mostly Labourites had filed a case but it took time for them to get what was theirs by right and some cases have not yet been solved.

Others lost their case because of legal exceptions raised by the various government departments involved in the proceedings. Many Labourites were disappointed and that was the first sign that Labourites were leaving the party."

Farrugia adds that a number of heads of department, who were doing a lot of harm in the way they ran their department, were kept in place. "Although we left them in place we were not vigilant and this policy decision was very controversial for certain sensitive jobs such as that of police commissioner," he insists.

Farrugia says the reason to keep Police Commissioner George Grech in place despite the flack directed against him by the MLP before the 1996 election, is yet unknown.

"As a party we had made it clear that we had no trust in the police commissioner of the time but Alfred Sant decided to leave him in place for reasons unknown till this very day. Days before the 1996 election at a mass meeting in Qormi, Sant said he did not trust the police commissioner and than he was elected to government and left him in place."

Farrugia argues that these actions eroded the credibility of the party and the very same Labourites who placed their trust in Alfred Sant and the party were losing it.

With hindsight Farrugia believes the Labour government was too hurried in tackling the financial problems inherited from the previous Nationalist administration.

"You could call it lack of experience," he says. Hastily he adds: "Or rather lack of tactics. The current administration has huge financial problems and although they have introduced a large amount of taxes nobody talks about taxes."

Turning to the European Union issue, Farrugia considers the case of whether Malta should join or not a closed one.

"I respect the decision taken by the people. That is what democracy entails. At the same time we must also respect the minority and so we have to try and find a road that unites both sides. The minority has to accept the fact that Malta will now become an EU member state.

"If I were to become leader of the Labour Party the first thing I will do is to create wide internal discussion in the party on the issue because it has to evolve internally. When I say wide discussion I don’t mean between ‘the few’ but in the general conference, public forums and meetings with the district and local committees.

"We now have to formulate our policies to safeguard our social democratic principles, such as pensions, social rights, health and education. Furthermore, we have to see where this country is going to head and we have to reaffirm and ensure that the country’s Constitution is safeguarded. The people have also spoken in the past on neutrality and the removal of military bases. The Nationalists along with us, if they want to work with us, have to ensure all this is safeguarded."

Farrugia looks ahead and sees the Labour Party working within the EU to establish an alliance of neutral countries to safeguard neutrality in view of the discussion on a common security and foreign policy.

Given the country’s geo-strategic position, Farrugia believes that Malta should be a protagonist in such an alliance. He suggests this should be a common position for all political parties. "This will also help heal the injury of many Labourites who voted against EU membership," Farrugia says.

Analysing the pro and anti-EU campaigns, Farrugia believes the Labour Party made one fundamental mistake.

"The Labour Party did not study what the Nationalists were doing. The Nationalists were good at selling Europe and they did so very well in simple and clear terms. They (the PN) ignored the details but worse than that, we as an Opposition were not capable of uncovering the details of the pain the EU was going to bring. To make matters worse we came up with the idea of ‘partnership’ at a late stage. The Maltese public was faced with a consistent message from the pro-EU forces while the Labour Party was not consistent with its partnership message. In short, we were weak on the criticism and the alternative came too late and was not presented in the right way."

What Labour MPs will do with the EU Treaty when it comes up for ratification in Parliament is still unknown. No official decision has yet been taken at party level but Farrugia personally believes that he feels compelled to vote against in full respect of the people that elected him.

He explains: "First of all there has to be a thorough parliamentary debate on the Treaty. Fenech Adami can set the agenda as much as he wants to, but we cannot allow him to set the MLP’s agenda. The Prime Minister must discuss a timetable for the discussion of the Treaty with the Opposition. Other countries have taken up to six months if not more to discuss the treaties.

"But, I also believe that the treaty should be discussed within the structures of my party. We are not talking about whether Malta should join or not, we are talking about the approval of a treaty. Malta’s European destiny was decided by the general election, the issue at stake now is whether to approve the treaty or not. In any case the treaty requires a simple majority and so it will pass."

Focus turns to another bogeyman of the Labour Party: the English language press.

"We did not have good treatment from the English-language media over the last few years. I think the Labour Party suffered because it did not have its own English-language newspaper. The party also suffered because of the EU issue, which provided the right platform for all pro-EU factions to come together," Farrugia says.

He continues: "Owning a newspaper could be one of the solutions, but I believe the rift with the media can be bridged by adopting a different attitude. We have to try and cohabit together."

Within a week Farrugia will know his fate in the leadership contest. Farrugia says that Alfred Sant’s indecision on what to do after the election contributed to the delayed announcement that he would be contesting the post.

"In my opinion Sant took a bit too long to decide. I could not understand why he took three weeks. He may have had his reasons but for three weeks Labourites were confused and uncertain about their leadership. When he finally announced on 1 May that he would submit his nomination I had already started my personal campaign among delegates. In any case he gave me the opportunity to have a contest of heavyweights."

The Mosta lawyer describes Sant as a good football player, who sports intelligence and speed but who unfortunately cannot score.

"The statute of the party says that after every election the leader and deputy leaders must be reaffirmed or contested. I don’t think that Sant was expecting not to be contested after the defeats he suffered as a leader. The change of heart on 1 May, which effectively signalled the start of Sant’s campaign fuelled my resolve.”

Farrugia is not bothered with remarks that he may be sidelined within the party if he loses the leadership battle.

With a smile on his face he recalls the 1998 contest. "The issue of being sidelined if I lose the leadership contest does not worry me at all. In 1998 when I contested George Vella for the post and I got almost 30 per cent of the vote many in the party told me to be careful. I did not take heed and retained my style. There were instances when I said what I had to say within the structures and in this election I increased my vote tally. I am confident that the same will happen in five year’s time if I lose the leadership contest."

It remains to be seen whether Nationalists and floating voters will see Anglu Farrugia, the leader of the Labour Party, in a better light than Alfred Sant.

"I am a staunch Labourite, but I am a straight person. The Nationalists need a straight person to deal with. The important thing is sticking to your word. By doing so you gain credibility and that is an important ingredient for any politician."