Opinion: 7 Reasons Robert Abela Should Say No To Muscat
Joseph Muscat has been threatening to make a political comeback for four years, ever since he was forced to step down as Prime Minister soon after being labelled Man of the Year for Corruption 2019.
First he said in a Sunday Times interview: “If they keep annoying me, I do not exclude (a return to politics).” Then after police raided his home as part of a corruption in 2021, he went a step further: “I spent the past two years remaining silent as much as possible. In the third year, I will make more noise, both on the internet but also face to face, with people…”
Last week, after being spotted doing house visits in Buġibba, Muscat got his hand-puppet Emanuel Cuschieri to ask Facebook whether he should be a Labour candidate for June’s European Parliament election. Then Muscat put on his best acting face and told the cameras: “I’ve been considering these things during the past 24 hours… I cannot ignore the people.”
So now we know what Muscat’s plan has been all along. He wants to become an MEP again. The question is: What is Prime Minister Robert Abela and the Labour Party going to do about it?
When asked by journalist Andrew Azzopardi, Abela replied with a question: “Why should I say no?”
Well, here are seven reasons Abela should consider:
1. Muscat is one of the key people implicated in a corruption investigation.
Part of that investigation involves a company linked to the fraudulent €4 billion hospital deal, which had started paying Muscat €540,000, divided in monthly instalments, soon after he stopped being Prime Minister. Until that investigation is concluded, it is dangerous to trust Muscat with public office again.
2. If he does allow Muscat to be a candidate, Abela is giving himself and his party a major conflict of interest.
They will now be compromised into defending Muscat even if he is criminally charged, instead of letting him defend himself as a private individual outside of the Labour Party. The whole point of resigning is to be able to defend one’s innocence freely without creating a negative impact for the party or the country.
3. To be able to defend Muscat, Abela and the Labour Party must adopt Muscat’s line that the courts are out to get him.
Tellingly, Abela has already lashed out at the magistrate and questioned her integrity and impartiality, something that a few years ago would have been a punishable offence politically. (Remember when Muscat forced his deputy leader Anglu Farrugia out for questioning the integrity of a member of the judiciary?)
4. By foisting Muscat back into the European Socialist bloc while corruption allegations are still looming, Abela is antagonising his party’s own allies in Europe.
This will make life harder for all of Labour’s MEPs. It must be remembered that when Muscat was trying to hold on to his position as Prime Minister, the European Parliament voted for him to step down quicker so he cannot influence criminal investigations. In an unprecedented move, even the Socialist group backed the vote against Muscat.
5. Bringing Muscat back in the fold would force Abela to bring everybody else back: Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, Rosianne Cutajar, Justyne Caruana and Chris Cardona to name a few.
Any efforts Labour made in the past few years to dispel the image of corruption will go down the drain. The party will go back to square one, which will make it harder for Labour to attract the right people towards it. It also sends the wrong message to those currently in the Labour Party.
6. Accepting Muscat back would make Abela look weak – as if he needs his predecessor to do the job. If Muscat is credited for Labour’s victory at the MEP elections, Abela will look even weaker.
And by then Muscat would have a big political platform on which to mount a leadership challenge to Abela, something Muscat is likely to do if he fears that only by being a Prime Minister can he fend off criminal charges.
7. Then there’s the most important reason. That Muscat’s return will be bad for Malta and its reputation.
After spending a year working to get Malta off the Financial Action Task Force greylist, Malta’s institutions will once again face increased international scrutiny. And that could have a negative impact on our economy as well as the ease with which business people in Malta can do business.
Abela never said he asked Muscat to contest the EP elections, so there is a chance that Muscat sprung this up on him. If that is the case, there’s also a personal reason why Abela should say no. Why should you appease someone who is trying to force your hand?
Cover images: Robert Abela and Joseph Muscat’s Facebook
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