Abela’s tightrope: Keep rivals close, but where’s the chemistry?

US presidential candidate Kamala Harris gave one main reason for choosing Governor Tim Walz, a charming moderate who has ticked all the progressive boxes, as her running mate: the “great chemistry” between the two politicians in what increasingly looks like a joyful ride to victory. 

Walz is not an attack dog, but someone Harris believes she could work with long-term and who, crucially, appeals to both the moderate and progressive wings of her party. 

In short, she did what Labour leader Joseph Muscat did in 2012 when he replaced firebrand Anglu Farrugia with the charming and widely respected Louis Grech as the new deputy leader for parliamentary affairs. 

Of course, Prime Minister Robert Abela has no such luxury in an unprecedent tumultuous time for his party. 

Labour in 2024 finds itself in an apparent tug of war between its government caste, and vocal activists who appear in thrall of disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat. It is a battle to frame a party narrative that is suffering blowback from the prosecutions of former Cabinet ministers on the Vitals-Steward hospitals saga. 

With the resignation of Chris Fearne because of prosecutions, elections have opened for the deputy leadership for parliamentary affairs. But heads have been ‘rolling’ since Labour’s super-majority was normalised down in the 2024 European elections: deputy leader for party affairs Daniel Micallef stepped down, as did Labour’s CEO, also MP, Randolph de Battista, Abela’s policy advisor Aleander Balzan, and other party operatives. 

With party machinery entirely absorbed by Labour’s overbearing government apparatus, the party finds itself in need of a new deputy leader for party affairs whose voice could be crucial in either cementing the siege mentality of an embattled administration or a critical alternative to the yes-man mentality. 

Abela cannot choose his own deputy leaders on a whim – the final choice lies with party delegates whose tradition is to select a deputy leader for party affairs that can keep the leadership in check; someone in tune with the rank and file rather than the electorate at large. 

Their verdict is far from infallible, and Abela has had reason to fear the worst - the election of Jason Micallef, the former Labour secretary-general, charismatic but divisive, would have placed an attack dog apparently doing Joseph Muscat’s bidding inside the troika. 

By securing Micallef’s exit from the race and opening the door for a candidacy by the popular Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba – ostensibly a compromise candidate – it is unclear how far Abela has averted disaster. For the Labour administrative committee has now appointed Micallef a special delegate to oversee the implementation of the party’s electoral manifesto, arguably a role that places him on the ground while Agius Saliba is busy in Brussels. 

But what sort of chemistry exists between Abela and Agius Saliba? 

Labour’s emerging strongman 

Agius Saliba certainly ticks a number of boxes. 

He is liked within the Labour cohort of voters, securing nearly 60,000 votes in recent MEP elections. He is also competent, having worked on drafting EU legislation on various topics, including workers’ right to disconnect and consumer rights, and in doing so, he has confronted powerful international lobbies. He even had no qualms in challenging local importers when he asked the European Commission to investigate their pricing.  And he has spoken his mind on issues of development in Comino, a stance which suggests a willingness to address the party’s disconnect with local communities. 

And while Agius Saliba can also flex his muscles aggressively in confronting the Opposition, a challenge he naturally relishes, unlike Jason Micallef he is conditioned by his own future political ambitions further up in the party leadership. 

In short, he can act as the party’s attack dog, without going overboard. 

And this may have been Abela’s calculation - keeping potential rivals close enough to be able to keep them on a leash. 

One major concern Agius Saliba must address is that given his role as head of the PL’s MEP delegation, he will be unable to focus entirely on party affairs. His reputation as a workhorse completely dedicated to the party could dispel some of these fears. But delegates may resent the idea having someone running the party from an office in Brussels, who would have to rely on his proxies in Malta. One of them could be ‘special delegate’ Jason Micallef. 

The permanent elephant in the room 

There is one big elephant in any room where Abela and Agius Saliba are present: Joseph Muscat. 

After showing no hesitation in accepting the disgraced former leader’s support during the MEP elections by inviting him to address his events, Agius Saliba is now perceived as a Muscat loyalist. 

So, will Agius Saliba stand as an obstacle to any attempt by Abela to distance the party from Muscat’s judicial troubles? His election as deputy leader could cement the perception that Muscat is still pulling the strings by placing key allies in party structures. Agius Saliba has already openly defied Abela by not supporting Roberta Metsola’s bid for the EU Parliament’s presidency, in a mutinous move that dispels any attempts at magnaminity from Labour. Can Abela actually keep Agius Saliba on a leash? 

Jason Micallef’s swift exit from the race raises the question whether the Muscat camp presented a decoy to the race, in a bid to force Abela to accept a compromise candidate. And if that man is Agius Saliba, his election as deputy leader would be a victory for the Muscat faction, a less damaging outcome for Abela than having the unpredictable Jason Micallef run the party. 

For sure, this sort of manoeuvring is also eroding Abela’s authority, who is now not being seen as in control of his destiny, but simply reacting to events.  

The emerging troika 

The overall perception of Abela’s leadership troika also depends on who will fill the more important role of Deputy Prime Minister, a post touted for Foreign Minister Ian Borg, who has an uncanny ability to reinvent himself according to the role he occupies. 

Given Ian Borg’s internal influence, it is hard to imagine that the post could be contested by anyone else in the parliamentary group. 

While he is burdened by his previous role in Muscat’s cabinet, the Teflon politician has so far managed to emerge unscathed from scandals that happened on his watch or his questionable legacy in the planning sector. His reputation as a doer still precedes him. 

And as foreign minister he has stepped away from the partisan fray while navigating carefully in the international field in a balancing act between Malta’s neutrality, tepid support for the Palestinian cause, and cozier relationships with the US and NATO. Since 2023, where Malta assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council, Borg has presided over various soft power gains for Malta inside international fora, like the OSCE this year, and in 2025, the Council of Europe.  

Like Agius Saliba, Borg, who originally intended to stand against both Abela and Fearne in the 2019 leadership contest, may well have future ambitions of his own. By accepting Borg as his deputy PM, Abela may once again be seeking to neutralise a potential rival, trusting that Borg’s future ambitions and ability to adapt to changing circumstances could turn him into an asset in the next election. 

But again, it is unclear how all these future ambitions could either cement or poison the political chemistry in the emerging troika. 

And Labour’s internal act of renewal might yet be dead-legged by Agius Saliba’s strong anti-abortion views, a sensitive issue gaining traction with feminist Labour voices, that could lead to abortion becoming what divorce was for Lawrence Gonzi’s administration. Agius Saliba might give a voice to Labour’s dormant conservative faction, but such views could be a major turn-off for progressives who are already jumping ship. 

The most damning indictment for Abela in this saga is that it shows that over the past four years, he has failed to nurture a talent pool from which he can pick potential future leaders with whom he can feel at ease. 

So, while Muscat remains a mentor for an entire generation of Labour activists, Abela, even after successfully navigating the troubled waters of a pandemic and a difficult international climate, has been too focused on governance and failed to co-opt a new generation of activists. 

Similarly, Abela has offered no coherent narrative to keep Labour’s progressive flame burning, even while differentiating himself from the mistakes of his disgraced predecessor. One policy area where Abela could leave a mark is on gender equality.  Ironically under his watch, the party which introduced gender quotas will end up being led by an all-male leadership troika. 

The 2024 European elections gave Labour a mid-term yellow card but instead of the shake-up it needs, the party has only seen factional manoeuvring rather than the much-needed policy debate on the issues that matter. How Labour’s new leadership approaches this challenge in the run-up to the next general elections, could define the legacy of a party-in-government that has long peaked.