News • 07 September 2003

Cuschieri spews anti-Sant banter

For long he was seen as Dr Alfred Sant’s right-hand man, a loyal serf, who pandered to the voracious appetite of the die-hard Labour masses. But an electoral drubbing and a subtle witch-hunt to search for palatable scapegoats have left Labour president Manuel Cuschieri out in the cold.
His absence was evident yesterday during the press conference given by the party administration and Labour leader Alfred Sant to announce a fund-raising campaign. As president of the party and veteran fund-raiser, Mr Cuschieri was expected to be present alongside vice president Philip Borg, financial secretary Tommy Dimech, activities co-ordinator Ray Azzopardi and secretary general Jimmy Magro.
But Mr Cuschieri’s absence yesterday was not a co-incidence. The darling of Super One radio listeners has been ostracised from the airwaves and nobody in the leadership trio seems to want to commit himself on the future of Mr Cuschieri’s love-hate programme, Tajjeb li tkun taf.
It is an open secret that Dr Sant has washed his hands of Mr Cuschieri, who has been made to shoulder most of the responsibility for Labour’s electoral defeat.
And now, in the run-up to the general conference and four months after being unceremoniously dumped by his former ‘master,’ Mr Cuschieri is doing the rounds among Labour delegates with not a nice word for Dr Sant’s leadership.
Mr Cuschieri is criticising Alfred Sant during meetings with delegates, MaltaToday was told. And the news shocks.
Mr Cuschieri has maintained his silence with the press opting to reply ‘no comment’ whenever asked about his future political career.
But after losing heavily in the deputy leadership contest Mr Cuschieri still believes he has a contribution to make and come November his name will probably feature on the ballot sheet for the post of president. Whether he succeeds is a totally different story.