Micallef warned that a political party cannot function without a person who is elected by the General Conference to ensure that the party administration is conducting itself properly when in Opposition and far more when in government.

Micallef continued by observing that the majority of political parties in Europe have a Secretary General.

He insisted that the new leader should ensure that the role is reinstated, together with other amendments in the statute that guarantee increased scrutiny as well as checks and balances are brought back or introduced anew.

Asked to comment, Mark A. Sammut, who was a Labour activist when Alfred Sant was leading the party, said Joseph Muscat had long wanted to remove Micallef from his post of Secretary General for reasons which are still unclear to him.

“To achieve this objective, the office of Secretary General was abolished,” he said. “We can therefore infer why Mr Micallef now wants that office to be re-introduced. I have no idea how the Labour Party functions at present, but I have no doubt that had there been a Secretary General, Joseph Muscat would have ignored his or her advice.”

“He was inebriated with power and he was kept on a healthy diet of glory which obfuscated his judgment. Already, I think, he was never really a man of principle, and the flatterers must have levered on this shortcoming. I’m sure no Secretary General would have managed to contain the insane scramble for Malta. ‘Malta Tagħna Lkoll’ reminds you of late 19th century imperialism, when the Europeans thought that Africa belonged to all of them.”

“During these years, Jason Micallef aired his views on numerous occasions, and Joseph Muscat consistently ignored him. Why would Muscat have paid heed to a Secretary General, who, all told, never had the power to stop or avoid what happened to the Labour Party? A hungry cohort decided they had to make as much hay as humanly possible while Muscat shined.”