MALTA: "CHANGE" CANDIDATE ELECTED AS LEADER OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VALLETTA 000265

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MT
SUBJECT: MALTA: "CHANGE" CANDIDATE ELECTED AS LEADER OF
OPPOSITION LABOR PARTY

REF: VALLETTA 097


1. (SBU) Summary: The opposition Malta Labor Party (MLP) has
a new leader: Joseph Muscat, who for the past several years
has represented Malta in the European Parliament. At 34
Muscat is the youngest candidate to contest the post, and ran
on a campaign of change and a promise to strengthen and unite
the party. However, a week after Muscat took the helm of the
party, two MLP veterans were elected to deputy leadership
positions, suggesting that the MLP is not completely ready
for sweeping changes. Anglu Farrugia has been elected Deputy
Leader for Parliamentary Affairs, and Toni Abela will be
Deputy Leader for Party Affairs. End summary.


2. (U) On June 6, in a run-off for the leadership of the
Malta Labor Party, Joseph Muscat garnered 65% of the votes
for new party leader. Muscat,s victory came as no surprise,
as his candidacy for the post had been blessed by former MLP
leader Alfred Sant, who resigned the leadership after the
MLP,s third consecutive defeat in the March general
elections. Among the party delegates, who were the only
voters in the leadership contest, Sant,s opinion still
carries considerable weight. Sant,s influence over the
process was evident in the first round of voting on June 5,
when Muscat fell just short of the 50% threshold to be
elected without a run-off, even with 5 candidates in the
race.


3. (U) Though the MLP suffered only the narrowest of defeats
in the March elections (reftel),many thought the MLP needed
new direction and a fresh face. Muscat promised change when
he threw his hat into the ring for the leadership position,
calling for change and unity in the Party, and stating that
&while embracing free trade and encouraging the
entrepreneurial spirit, we have to reaffirm that which
defines us: our social compassion." He added that "the
helping hand of government should be ever present" and that
"our common challenges should be the pursuit for full
employment and the creation of a knowledge society.8 Within
days of his assuming leadership, Muscat met with Prime
Minister Lawrence Gonzi; the two men embraced and agreed that
it was important for Labor and the Nationalist Party &to
work together for the common good of the country.8 Muscat
elaborated that his brand of politics was to &confront ideas
without antagonism" and to not hesitate to "agree (with the
government) on issues we believe in.8


4. (U) Muscat did not run in the March 2008 general elections
and does not have a seat in Parliament. When Parliament
convenes in September, a yet-to-be-determined MLP
parliamentarian will resign, allowing Muscat to be "co-opted"
into the empty seat. Until that time, MP Charles Mangion,
the previous Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs, will
officially be the Labor leader.

BIOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND ON THE NEW LEADERSHIP:


5. (U) Muscat was elected to the European Parliament in 2004,
garnering the most votes of the Labor candidates, which won
three of Malta,s five seats in the European Parliament. The
MLP Members of European Parliament (MEP) form part of the
Socialist Group. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Committee
on Economic and Monetary Affairs as well as the Delegation
for relations with Belarus. At 34 years old, Muscat is the
second-youngest person to hold the leadership of Malta,s
Labor Party, the youngest was Dom Mintoff, who ruled the MLP
from 1949-1984.


6. (U) Anglu Farrugia was elected to be Deputy Leader for
Parliamentary Affairs on June 13 with 65% of the delegates,
votes. He is a MLP veteran ) in 2003 he unsuccessfully
contested for the party leadership against Sant; and in 1998,
unsuccessfully contested for the position of deputy leader
for party affairs. Farrugia entered parliament in 1996, when
Labor was in the majority. He has never held a ministerial
post, though he has served as the Shadow Spokesman for
Justice and Home Affairs. Prior to entering parliament,
Farrugia worked as a police superintendent and then qualified
to practice as a lawyer. Farrugia was nominated by Embassy
Valletta to attend a seminar at the Marshall Center in August

2007.


7. (U) Toni Abela was elected as the Deputy Leader for Party
Affairs with more than 60% of the vote. Abela qualifies as
another MLP veteran. At the age of 29, he held the post of
party president. In the 1980s after he was ex-communicated
from the Labor Party for criticizing its administration, he
co-founded the Green Party with Harry Vassallo (leader of the

VALLETTA 00000265 002 OF 002


Green Party until 2008). While Abela is not a
parliamentarian, he used this to his advantage to reassure
the delegates that he would dedicate himself to reforming the
party,s administration.

Comment
--------------


8. (SBU) As Muscat spends the majority of his time in
Brussels, the Embassy has had minimal direct communication
with him. Ambassador is scheduled to meet with him at the
MLP headquarters on July 7; all indications are that Muscat
intends to maintain the open and largely friendly channels of
communication that prevailed with Sant. The foreign policy
direction of the MLP under Muscat,s leadership is not yet
clear, and he has yet to appoint a new slate of MLP
parliamentarians for the Foreign and European Affairs
Committee. On certain social issues -- most notably divorce,
previously an untouchable for both parties -- Muscat has said
it should be part of the agenda for debate and discussion,
leaving some hope that he may be more open to new ideas than
his NAM-flavored, anti-US Navy ship visit rhetoric would
suggest.
DAVIS