When Muscat called on Sant to act like a lion

"Better live one day as a lion than a hundred days as a sheep."

This was the advice given by a 24-year-old Joseph Muscat - then a budding party journalist - to Labour leader Alfred Sant in an open letter to Sant penned on party newspaper KullHadd on 21 June 1998.

Muscat's evocation of the Italian adage which originated in the trenches of World War I - before gaining common currency in fascist Italy - summed up his audacity at the time.

"I think that a general election is a win-win for the Labour Party. If we win we will form a strong government and the Nationalist Party will be completely vanquished. If we lose we would still have confirmed ourselves as a new party different from the PN, which is tied to the old way of doing politics."

Muscat's call for an election in 1998 is consistent with his present call on the government to call an election even if, at that time, his advice backfired as the party was set to lose three consecutive elections.

In his article, Muscat also claimed that the Nationalist Party was not so keen on facing an election.

"The common Nationalists are keen on having an election but the same cannot be said of party insiders who see a big risk in going to the polls."

The young Muscat attributed the caution of the PN not only to the risk of being vanquished if defeated, but also to the risk of being unable to fulfil promises if elected - a criticism now levelled at Muscat himself.

"They know that if elected, they will find their back against the wall because they will be unable or unwilling to turn the clock back on the hard decisions made by the Labour government on issues like stipends, decrease in overtime and the water and electricity bills."

Muscat's advice came before a Labour conference decision on 12 July, in which 665 delegates against 46 approved a motion calling for an election. The decision resulted in the resignation of George Abela from deputy leader.