|
A late-night meeting last Wednesday at the MLP headquarters between leader Alfred Sant and deputy leaders Charles Mangion and Michael Falzon, led to a reconciliatory statement by Falzon, which was broadcast yesterday on One radio.
His radio broadcast was re-worded later in the day with the less palatable phrases having been carefully excluded from the printed statement.
Though many Sant acolytes still feel that Falzon has not gone far enough in his atonement for his outburst last Sunday, the move is seen as an attempt to defuse a time bomb that could permanently scuttle Labour’s chances of winning the next general election.
In his flare-up at the Rabat party meeting last Sunday, where Falzon reacted to Illum’s revelation that he had passed on an anonymous email from a well-meaning admirer to the police for investigation, the deputy leader revealed he had also passed on information to the Commissioner of Police on party insiders suspected of planting anonymous letters.
His outrage at newspapers MaltaToday and Illum and the newspapers’ journalists, led Sant followers to consider an attempt to oust Falzon from the party. But party leadership sensed the gravity of the situation and closed ranks to convince Falzon of how grave his Sunday statements had really been.
Yesterday, Falzon minimised the significance of what he described as “a soap opera”, and blamed the Nationalist party for hyping up the outburst. But his soundbites last Sunday provided enough fodder for the Nationalist media machine to last the entire crucial election campaign year.
In his broadcast Falzon said he considered the case closed. But it will be up to Labour constituents to consider the extent of the damage done – the PN’s media machine is now expected to flog Labour’s leadership division to regain lost ground, which is why Falzon’s hysterical outburst has confused and saddened Labour supporters.
Party insiders admitted with MaltaToday the party’s chances at winning a snap election now would be slim. The innocent email, and another ‘malicious’ anonymous letter which Falzon passed onto the Commissioner of Police, has meanwhile led the police on a wild goose chase. Investigators did however get to interrogate the celebrity chef, who declared himself an admirer of Michael Falzon, who wrote the harmless email, but not the letter.
The email beckoned the party leadership to unite in order to ensure electoral victory. But the police obliged the author of the email to sign at the police depot’s lock-up, a power they have been awarded through the recent introduction of police bail. They also confiscated the chef’s personal computer.
Last Monday, Labour MP Anglu Farrugia went as far as suggesting in the parliamentary group meeting that Michael Falzon should leave. Falzon reacted instantly by reminding the former leadership contender of his anti-Sant stance in the past.
By Wednesday, the situation had reached crisis point, and after the late night meeting, journalists were told to watch out for “something” in the offing. On Friday it was obvious that Falzon was to broadcast a message on radio, which he did yesterday: couching his words in conciliatory language and reaffirming his loyalty to Alfred Sant.
He said Sunday’s outburst had been the result of how hurt he was at a series of allegations being bandied about, but he still confused matters when he stated that the Nationalist Party had lied about him passing on the names of six Labour officials to the Commissioner of Police.
In fact, none of the political or independent press ever made any reference to the six names: a closely guarded secret at Labour HQ, mentioned only as rumours by insiders within party precincts.
In fact the only media reference to any such names was a soundbite from Michael Falzon himself, claiming he had been framed and that he had “authorised” the Commissioner to investigate the insiders.
In a party statement issued later last night, Falzon’s message was choreographed with the central message exemplified in the first sentence: “the soap opera and fantasies which the Nationalist Party invented following last Sunday’s Rabat speech, are a closed matter”. (“It-telenovela u l-fantasji li kien jivvinta l-Partit Nazzjonalista matul din il-gimgha wara diskors nhar il-Hadd fir-Rabat, hija kwistjoni maghluqa.”)
|
