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As Labour-led councils score high on MLP graded performance, Labour secretary-general Jason Micallef says he does not know of one single PN-led council that is doing a good job
 Jason Micallef is still grasping to understand the real motives behind the PN’s tactic to withdraw candidates from Zejtun and Marsa but he is aware that this has put his party on the high moral ground.
Micallef is determined not to commit any blunder through which the party could fall from grace. When I ask him whether he is willing to commit his party never to use the same tactic used by the PN in Marsa and Zejtun, Labour’s secretary-general is very clear:
“As long as I remain secretary-general of the MLP I won’t use the tactics the PN is using at Zejtun and Marsa. I am not like Joe Saliba who used to attack me for availing myself of the power used by both parties in the past to strike off people from the electoral register. Last year I made it clear that I will refrain from using this tactic ever again. In fact no such applications were registered this year.”
As our conversation unfolds, I get a feeling that aeons, and not just two short years, have passed since the 2003 elections when the MLP tried to strike off Arnold Cassola from the electoral register.
Our conversation turns towards the interpretation of this year’s election results. Will the MLP include Marsa and Zejtun to calculate the result of next week’s election?
“We know where we stand in Marsa and Zejtun even if no elections are held there. We will calculate the amount of votes that the MLP had gained in 2002 in these two localities when interpreting the results.” Jason Micallef is very wary of giving his party a benchmark in these elections. But does he consider the 48.5 per cent the party gained in all localities minus Marsa and Zejtun in 2002 as a realistic benchmark? Reluctantly, Jason answers that he will be glad if the MLP manages to keep the same result achieved in 2002.
I ask Jason to explain why the MLP is calling on the Electoral Commission to pronounce itself on the PN’s withdrawal from Zejtun and Marsa. Is the MLP accusing the PN or the commission of committing an illegality?
“All that happened in Zejtun and Marsa is according to the law. What the MLP finds questionable is the way things were done just a few minutes before closing time. An official pronouncement by the Electoral Commission is long due.”
According to the MLP’s secretary-general, “it would be foolish if the government and the opposition disregards the national significance of a message sent by 90,000 voters vote.” I remind Micallef that the MLP did manage to win a relative majority in 2001 and absolute majority in the 2002 local election only to lose the 2003 general elections. Micallef insists: “The 2003 election was not a typical election as it was won and lost on the basis of the EU membership issue.”
But is the MLP overdoing the national significance of these elections? Alfred Sant went as far as saying that after choosing not to take part in the Zejtun and Marsa local elections, the PN should withdraw from all other councils and even from government. The MLP, Sant said, is ready to govern.” Jason Micallef obviously agrees with Sant.
“The government has lost confidence in its ability to win these elections. It lacks the confidence required for governing the country.” But how can the MLP govern right now when it has not yet approved its document on social and economic regeneration? Micallef insists that the process of consultation leading to the approval of the party’s economic policy demonstrates “the seriousness of the party as a government in waiting.”
But is the MLP winning by default because many PN supporters are choosing to abstain rather than voting for Labour in appointments like last June’s European elections? Jason Micallef insists: “According to our analysis an equal number of PN and MLP supporters stayed at home in these elections. The MLP also managed to win an absolute majority in a PN oriented round of localities last year. I am convinced that a number of Nationalists voted Labour for the first time in these elections.”
But how is the MLP attributing political significance to local elections when the MLP’s ultimate goal is the withdrawal of all political party candidates?
The MLP’s secretary-general strongly believes that as long as political parties continue to contest local council elections “many valid persons who don’t want to be associated with any political party will not contest. When local councils were introduced in 1992 the MLP decided not to field any candidates. But this led to a democratic deficit. Government ministries and entities sidelined independent candidates as they lacked a point of reference. This is why we changed our position after 1998. We are ready to stop contesting if all three parties decide not to participate directly in local elections.”
I point out to Micallef that in its campaign the MLP is calling on voters to vote for Labour candidates but in a break with tradition it is not calling on voters to vote exclusively for MLP candidates. In a departure from political orthodoxy Jason Micallef insists on “respecting the freedom of individual voters.”
“I believe in democracy. I have every right to tell voters to vote for MLP candidates but it’s up to the individual to decide whether to continue voting for candidates of other parties.”
Local elections in Malta have become annual tests, which leave little breathing space for any government. As the secretary-general of a party aspiring to govern the country doesn’t Micallef consider this as unhealthy for the country? The MLP’s secretary-general agrees that elections should not be held every year but linked any such reforms to wider reforms in the electoral process. Micallef reveals that during these discussions the PN was ready to change the composition of the Local Council Association in return for the postponement of this year’s local elections.
Micallef insists that the composition of the association is so “blatantly anti democratic” that no agreement could be reached on this basis. On the other hand an agreement could be reached if it includes electoral reforms through which the result of general elections will reflect the proportionality of the vote.
I point out to Jason Micallef how could it be possible that according to the MLP’s analysis, Labour-led councils always score much better than PN -led localities. Don’t the Nationalists love their children (and localities) too? Jason attributes this to the fact that the PN makes too many promises before local council elections. “We do not promise heaven on earth as we are aware of financial limitations.”
But are there any Nationalist councillors doing a good job?
“Yes there are some,” admits Micallef. He also mentions AD councillors like Mike Briguglio whom he commends for working hand in hand with MLP councillors to defend Sliema residents. But is there a single PN-led local council in this round of elections, which is doing a good job? Micallef returns to a more partisan mode. “I don’t know of any such council so far.”
Jason Micallef was talking to James Debono
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