Abela’s candidate faces uphill battle in bid for presidential post

Former state TV head of news Norma Saliba is far from a guaranteed win over her rival Alex Sciberras in the running for President of the Labour Party.

Labour insiders who spoke to this newspaper explained how despite the former TVM Head of News being handpicked by Prime Minister Robert Abela, she faces an uphill battle in her fight for the post.

Though Saliba is openly backed by Abela, Labour delegates have a long history of going against the leader’s preferred choice. In 2008, Anglu Farrugia was elected Labour deputy leader for parliamentary affairs, beating Chris Cardona in an election run-off, despite the latter being then-leader Joseph Muscat’s candidate of choice.

READ ALSO: The big shakeup: What’s on the horizon for a new look Labour Party?

Following the European Parliament election this year, the Labour Party was hit by a string of resignations from its top roles. First to resign was Daniel Micallef from deputy leader for party affairs, with Ramona Attard and Randolph De Battista following suit.

Former deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne also resigned from his deputy leadership post after being charged in relation to the fraudulent hospitals concession. 

Vying for the post of president to replace Ramona Attard, two people have submitted their nomination: former mayor Alex Sciberras and former TVM Head of News Norma Saliba.  

Insiders explained how despite Saliba having Labour sympathies, with her father veteran sports reporter Mario Saliba being a well-known delegate, she has never been active in the party.

Alex Sciberras on the other hand a lawyer by profession and son of the late Justice Philip Sciberras has been a Labour candidate on national level, an executive member of the Labour party for three terms, a participant in district committees, Msida mayor, a legal consultant in the Joseph Muscat secretariat and a regular commentator for Labour in the media.   

However, it is well-known that Sciberras is not on the best of terms with the Labour leader, and insiders fear that this could impact his election chances.

Nonetheless sources close to Sciberras have said that the candidate was overwhelmed by the reception he was receiving from delegates.

“There is feeling of discontent especially in the way the new posts were formulated and dictated by Castille,” they said. “And there is also concern that the Labour leadership needs to listen more to the delegates. Sciberras will exploit this.”

They way posts have been dictated by Castille has ruffled feathers, with a number of potential candidates left unhappy with the situation.

They include Josianne Cutajar, a former MEP who was promised the post of Deputy Leader for Party Affairs, but discovered that the post had been also promised to MEP Alex Agius Saliba. In the European Parliament it was well known that the two Labour MEPs were always at loggerheads with each other.

Other people who had shown interest in the deputy leadership post included Education Minister Clifton Grima, who was encouraged at one point by Robert Abela to contest. Alex Sciberras was alos discouraged in putting forward his candidacy by the Prime Minister himself, insiders said.

Other posts which caused some headache included the post of Chief Executive of the party, which was vacated after the departure of Randolph De Battista. At the very last minute, the Prime Minister opted for Leonid Mackay instead of party stalwart Nigel Vella.

Vella had been told by the Prime Minister he would be his choice for the role, but was left in the cold without even being informed. 

Shortly after the PL announced McKay’s appointment, Vella took to Facebook with a cryptic post that he removed shortly afterwards. In his post, Vella wrote: “A phone call that changes everything. Not even face to face because that is too hard. A punch, two punches, this time around nothing will go unchallenged.” Mackay also served as Agius Saliba’s campaign manager during this year’s MEP election.

But insiders also believe that Alex Agius Saliba and Ian Borg are expected to invigorate the party through their established networks and connections. Agius Saliba is Labour’s most popular MEP, while Borg is considered an authoritative voice in the party.

A senior adviser to Prime Minister Abela, told MaltaToday: “We will have an indomitable triumvirate in the next general election that is for sure, and it will pay dividend, wait and see.”

The upcoming Labour Party internal elections are scheduled to take place on September 13 and 14.