[WATCH] PL deputy leadership: Fearne pitches health results, closeness to Muscat

Health minister Chris Fearne dismisses leadership ambitions, says he will pressure Joseph Muscat to backtrack on promise to step down at end of term 

Health minister Chris Fearne launches his PL deputy leadership campaign outside the oncology hospital. Photo: James Bianchi
Health minister Chris Fearne launches his PL deputy leadership campaign outside the oncology hospital. Photo: James Bianchi
PL deputy leadership: Fearne pitches health results, closeness to Muscat

Health minister Chris Fearne focused on progress in the health sector and his personal relationship to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as he launched his bid to become Labour’s deputy leader for parliamentary affairs.

Launching his campaign in front of the oncology hospital, Fearne said that his personal relationship with Muscat dates back several years and recounted how he had endorsed him as Labour leader back in 2008.

“Joseph [sic] had asked me to endorse him as leader back in 2008, and I did so willingly,” he said. “I am proud to have endorsed Joseph, and it is my intention to continue working closely with him in the future.”

He refused to weigh in on whether he will target the Labour leadership if Muscat keeps his promise not to contest the next election. Instead, he said that he will use his time as deputy leader and deputy Prime Minister to try and convince the Labour leader to go back on his word and stay on as party leader.

Fearne will compete against finance minister Edward Scicluna and equality minster Helena Dalli for the deputy leadership position on 15 July. The slogan chosen for his campaign is ‘Working for a Better Malta’.

He dismissed a MaltaToday report that Muscat personally wants Scicluna by his side as deputy Prime Minister.

“After the election, I spoke to Muscat about the possibility of running for the deputy leadership and he encouraged me to do so just as he encouraged the other two candidates,” he said. “All three candidates have been approved by Muscat.”

Fearne said that Labour delegates will have a pleasant selection headache when it comes to deciding whether he, Scicluna or Dalli should be their deputy leader for parliamentary affairs.

“We are all strong candidates who had formed part of the success of the last administration,” he said, describing the PL delegates’ position as akin to that of a football manager who must pick one out of three top strikers to be in the starting 11.

“On the other hand, the Nationalist Party can hardly even field a starting 11…it doesn’t even have a manager or a captain,” he quipped.

Fearne said that he has already spearheaded progress in the health sector in the four weeks since the general election – such as adding an adding an anti-bladder cancer drug to the government’s formulary list, adding new operations for cancer and glaucoma patients, and launching a new international Masters’ programme for dentists at Smart City.

In the coming weeks, the health ministry will launch a screening programme for newborn babies so as to detect typhoid problems from the start, and will start rolling out free insulin sticks to diabetes patients.

As deputy leader of parliamentary affairs, he said he will welcome Speaker Anglu Farrugia’s call to slash speaking times for MPs for the sake of more lively parliamentary debate, and will seek to boost the resources granted to parliamentary committees and individual MPs.

Fearne described himself as an energetic, determined and competent person who has been militating in the Labour Party since the days of Dom Mintoff.

“Muscat managed to turn Labour’s fortunes around and transform it into a winning party, but if we want to keep winning then we must remain close to the people and not allow ourselves to grow arrogant,” he said. “First we created wealth and now we must focus on distributing it fairly, such as by eradicating poverty and precarious work, increasing pensions, and improving social services. We will do this because we remain a Workers’ Party.”