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The position and future of Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi as president of the Malta Labour Party has entered stormy seas with the suspension from the party of his father Joe Zrinzo by the party’s archaic and secretive Vigilance and Discipline board.
The young lawyer, considered to be a follower of deputy leader Michael Falzon’s line of thinking, has been derided by Labour circles for having allowed himself to talk loosely to the Nationalist media in an interview to il-mument, allowing them to feast on his sound-bites from his long commentaries, following revelations that his father was being investigated by the party watchdog.
Zrinzo Azzopardi failed to elude the media by walking an unsteady tightrope in standing by his father and not attacking the party.
The suspension of Joe Zrinzo, a former Nationalist turned Labourite after having campaigned with Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici in the Campaign for National Independence (CNI), has been attributed to his participation in an attempt to lure veteran Labour MP George Vella into standing for the party leadership.
Revealed for the first time in MaltaToday, George Vella was told by Joe Zrinzo and another activist, Steve McCarthy, that his acceptance of the leadership post would have the blessing of deputy leader Michael Falzon.
Falzon has not denied, nor has he confirmed knowing anything about the approach in which he was cited as a backer of Vella should he take up the leadership bid.
Joe Zrinzo is best remembered for his eloquent and flowery delivery in his vociferous opposition to EU membership within the ranks of the CNI.
Far from enthusiastic about Labour’s vote in favour of the EU Constitution, Zrinzo vehemently criticised George Vella during one of the MP’s presentations pushing for Labour’s positive vote
It was following this altercation that Vella blurted out the details of Zrinzo’s leadership bid to some six party delegates gathered in an adjacent room.
Unlike his father, double-barrelled surnamed son Stefan did not vote on the party’s Constitution stance in the last general conference. He argued, rather unconvincingly, that as president of the party he was obliged not to take a vote on the matter.
MaltaToday is informed Joe Zrinzo’s suspension has been linked to other matters related to his position as the twelfth district’s representative secretary. Sources close to the Vigilance and Discipline board said the last complaint was the leadership offer to George Vella, and was still being investigated.
But Zrinzo sympathisers are attributing Machiavellian tactics behind the board’s decision, considering as “diabolical” the fact the suspension was executed when Michael Falzon was away in Australia with party leader Alfred Sant.
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