With PN unwilling to discuss, Manuel Micallef gravitates towards Labour

“What I can say is that I am closer to the Labour Party. First of all because since Joseph Muscat became the leader of the party, I found the door wide open whereas before it was closed or slightly ajar,” the ex-CEO of Favourite Channel said in sister newspaper Illum on Sunday.

Micallef added: “On the other hand, from the PN’s side, at the time when Joe Saliba was secretary general of the party, he was more willing to meet up and take one’s opinion on board. I haven’t found this willingness since he left.”

He denied acting as consultant to the Labour Party or that he is currently active within the party in one way or another. Micallef said that at the moment he only has a discussion radio programme called ‘Il-Punt’ and might have some TV programmes in the future.

After his public fall-out with GWU’ Tony Zarb – to whom he lost the race for secretary-general in 2005 – speculation was rife as to whether Micallef intended to pursue a political career. To date he has kept his cards firmly to his chest.

He describes his current relationship with Zarb as one of friendship but there’s no professional relationship.

“There are no hard feelings between us. If I see him I’ll go talk to him and I also invited him on my programme,” said Micallef.

Asked what irks him when it comes to trade unionism, he mentioned that the unions are no longer as powerful as they used to be, and have not worked hard enough to attract members from newly-created jobs such as the IT, pharmaceutical and aviation sectors.

“We have to be in the forefront and not complain afterwards about individual contracts, precarious conditions, and so on. It is fine to go against these things but you have to think ahead.”