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Labour MP Anglu Farrugia is untiring in his quest to see the MLP back in the driving seat of power. Here he talks about Alfred Sant, Labour dissidents, corruption and the EU Constitution 
A failed bid at the party leadership in 2003 has not deterred Anglu Farrugia from throwing his weight around within the Labour Party, doing justice to those 25 per cent of delegates who voted for him back then.
He harbours no ill-feelings for Alfred Sant but the former police officer believes more has to be done to ensure a Labour victory at the next general election.
Farrugia believes the single most important message that came out of the leadership contest was the need for the party to open up. “It was healthy that there was a leadership contest. The votes John Attard Montalto and myself obtained, with backing from almost a third of delegates between us, was important because it showed the Labour Party had to make a bigger effort to open up. The party had been closing its ranks until then,” Farrugia says.
He insists that more delegates need to openly criticise and voice their concerns about party matters. “I am not scared to say things clearly, to say them as they are and that is one aspect that I constantly try to strive for in the party. Nobody should be scared of anybody. The leader should not be scared of anybody and nobody should be scared of him.”
Farrugia acknowledges there has been progress in opening up the party but he is an impatient man. “I believe that in the shortest time possible this party should be in Government. The mere fact that we will soon be close to 20 years in opposition is not a good sign for a political party. Maybe my style is to rush certain internal party reforms, but I still submit myself to the decisions taken by the general conference,” he says.
Farrugia’s wish is to see all those people who left the party for some reason or other returning back to the fold. He applauds the return of former MP Maria Camilleri, who had lost her parliamentary seat in 1998 after defending Dom Mintoff in Parliament. Only last week Camilleri addressed the MLP’s annual general conference.
But the list of Labour dissidents is long; Lino Spiteri, George Abela, Alex Scibberas Trigon, Alfred Mifsud are just few of the names that spring to mind.
Farrugia nods and says that all those who left but remained Labourites at heart have a place in the party. “I believe that we could have done more to get these people back. These are Labourites but they also have much to offer the country. There were issues on which I did not agree with Lino Spiteri but I still insist he is a big asset for the country. Today, even the Nationalist Government is utilising Lino Spiteri’s talents in the educational field. The Labour Party can grow if it involves more people who subscribe to its principles.”
Farrugia wants the Labour Party to win the next election on its own steam. “I do not want to win an election because the Nationalists are bad. It bothers me to win by default. It’s like a football team that wins a match because the opponents could not field their best players.”
Farrugia acknowledges there may be some individuals who will not approach the party because of Alfred Sant. “There may be a problem of chemistry but there are others who decide to stay away because they want to have the space to be critical even if their opinions may not be in line with that expressed by the majority of delegates.
“Within social democratic principles there is leeway for different opinions on certain issues. I believe open discussion is important even if it is essential for party officials to tow the party line once a decision has been taken.”
I ask Farrugia whether he concurs with the oft-made argument in the English press that Alfred Sant has a credibility problem with floating voters.
“Alfred Sant started on a negative note but to be fair he is now being more careful. Alfred Sant is an intelligent person but he has a chemistry problem with people. It needs to improve. Look at Lawrence Gonzi. He is still fresh in his new post but he is trying to build himself up as a decisive leader. Irrespective of whether the decisions taken are good or bad, Gonzi is building up an image and that helps to build his credibility. A person who is scared to take decisions or continually reverses decisions loses credibility. Alfred Sant may have taken some decisions in the past and then reversed them and that dented his credibility.”
For the past few months Farrugia has been working on a proposal to be discussed at the MLP’s general conference calling for a future Labour government to create an investigative structure with the power to re-open corruption cases spanning the last 30 years.
He insists this motion is an important step for the party to gain wider credibility in its call for transparent decision-making.
“Over the last 30 years there has been a lot of corruption and I believe millions of Liri have changed hands whether the issue was public land deals, the granting of tenders or the abuse of ministerial power. Every time people hear us speak of possible corruption or abuse they legitimately ask what happens next. The truth is there aren’t credible institutions that can investigate these cases thoroughly.
“We have legal structures that do not function properly. I have criticised the Public Accounts Committee against the grain of many in my party. One cannot have the power to investigate thoroughly utilising the PAC. The committee only serves to collect information, which is then totally dependent on how much the person under scrutiny is ready to talk.
“A proper investigation can only be carried out by an independent judicial authority with wide powers to scrutinise, prosecute and suggest temporary civil measures to remedy the situation.”
Farrugia says the Labour Party is already committed to remove the limit for prescription on cases concerning corruption and hence argues his proposal is complimentary.
He acknowledges there may be some within the Labour Party who fear such a move because it could put them under the investigative spotlight.
“If there are people in Labour’s fold who were corrupt it is their problem, not the Labour Party’s problem. They need to be brought to book. The MLP will never defend people involved in corruption. Alfred Sant, whom I personally guarantee as a clean person, in principle agrees with my position. The issue is how to concretise the proposal and make it work. The MLP executive decided that a commission be created to work on its formulation to be presented in the next general conference, which should meet in six months’ time.”
Having been a police officer during the eighties when the corps was involved in disgraceful violent behaviour, or simply closed an eye to atrocities that unfolded in front of its eyes, Farrugia knows that he may be open to scrutiny by the very same authority he wants to create.
“There is no doubt that I am opening myself up for scrutiny as well. When I was a police officer in the eighties I was never investigated for corruption and in 20 years of Nationalist administrations I was never accused of any wrongdoing.
“On the contrary, since most of the high-ranking police officials were involved in shameful acts, I was the only officer available for the newly elected Nationalist Government in 1987 to investigate the police commissioner himself.
“If you are not clean you cannot investigate others. I don’t think the PN had any problem knowing that Anglu Farrugia had Labour sympathies. I was chosen because they believed I was clean. I have absolutely no problem to subject myself to scrutiny because if I interrogated somebody I did so according to the law, if I arrested somebody I did so because there was reasonable doubt and if I prosecuted it was because the AG had decided that prima facie there was a case against the individual.”
On the Nardu Debono case, Farrugia has grave misgivings on the way the issue was handled politically. He insists it was a mistake to prosecute the police commissioner alone.
“I believe all those who were involved in the Nardu Debono murder should have been prosecuted. I don’t believe it was a correct political decision. A lot more work could have been done in the Nardu Debono case to bring all those who were involved to book depending on the level of responsibility they shouldered.”
Reverting to the current situation, Farrugia insists the Nationalist Party is making a mess of the economy and blames bureaucracy for hindering foreign direct investment.
“The Labour Party is already working on a number of proposals that will be included in the document for social and economic regeneration. We have to declare our position on pensions, taxes and other issues. Taxes have to be collected but they need to be collected in a just way. The deficit should not be addressed by piling burdens on the working population.”
Farrugia believes the Labour Party has to adopt an aggressive approach if Government continues to bulldoze over the people. “If need be we have to resort to general strikes, boycotts and similar harsh measures.”
I insist that it is unions who order general strikes not political parties but he is not fazed by the argument. “If unions hesitate, the party should take the lead. Unions have their own agenda to defend their members’ interests and the party need not rely on the support of any union. This is a political issue. The party has to be strong enough so that when it knocks on people’s doors, people respond positively. My fear is that when the party sleeps or remains silent for too long, passivity will increase.”
The last issue I raise before Farrugia dashes out to meet his clients is the EU Constitution.
“I have a lot of question marks on the EU Constitution. All that reduces the supremacy of the Maltese Constitution I am against. I will defend the supremacy of Malta’s Constitution always. It seems as if the EU Constitution could erode the supremacy of Malta’s Constitution and the country’s courts and, if this is the case, I will be against.
“There are serious issues at stake and people like myself who argue in this way are not anti-EU as some try to portray us. Malta is now a member of the EU and that is history. What we are talking about now is a Constitution for the EU.
“I have no doubt that neutrality should remain. One of the issues I raised during the leadership campaign is the creation of a neutral countries’ bloc within the EU. The EU Constitution and the way the common foreign policy is being drawn up risk compromising our neutrality so much at the heart of the Labour grass roots. If we lead ourselves to believe that Malta is neutral because our Constitution says so, but the EU Constitution remains supreme then neutrality will have no political validity.”
Despite his misgivings Farrugia says he will eventually adhere to the MLP’s final position once the issue is decided internally. But if it were up to him he would prefer having a national referendum to seek approval or rejection of the EU Constitution rather than simply a parliamentary vote.
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