Joseph Muscat on Ricky: ‘Labour will not lose election’

A resolute Joseph Muscat believes the Labour Party will not lose the next general election but it must step up to implement its electoral programme.

He also believes that the PL must regroup and Prime Minister Robert Abela given the chance to show he can deliver.

Muscat made the remarks during a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with podcaster Ricky Caruana last week. The podcast, which racked up 71,000 views on YouTube in four days, saw the former prime minister repeatedly avoid answering whether he will return to politics.

“I prefer not to reply,” Muscat replied curtly at the very end when Caruana, for the umpteenth time, tried his luck by asking whether the former Labour leader will stage a political comeback if he clears his name in ongoing criminal proceedings.

A few minutes earlier, Muscat was faced with questions about factionalism in the Labour Party and whether Robert Abela’s time as leader is up.

“If the Labour leadership does not change, you will not be in government in two years’ time,” Caruana suggested as he urged Muscat to make a run for it. “If Trump did it, why can’t you?”

Caruana was broadly reflecting the sentiment of disdain towards Abela within Labour circles that has been growing since the party’s dismal performance in the European Parliament election last June.

But a cautious Muscat steered clear of the bait: “I do not see it as you are. I believe there is need for regrouping but the Labour Party must look ahead and not backwards.”

Nonetheless, Muscat did point out the party’s current defects, while throwing a lifeline for Abela. “The Prime Minister deserves every chance to show that he can deliver and there is still time for things to improve,” Muscat said, while identifying the electoral programme’s size as a problem.

“The electoral programme is as big as the Bible. It is too big and we have fallen behind on it and an effort is required to implement it because people will judge on what was promised and what was delivered,” Muscat said.

He then urged Labour functionaries to have more face-to-face contact with people. “People have to spend less time on Facebook and more time on face time,” he quipped.

Squabbling lovers

“The Labour Party will not lose the general election,” he affirmed before describing his relationship with the Labour leadership as akin to that of two lovers.

“We sometimes squabble but I was a Labourite and will always remain a Labourite and I will not say one word that can cause damage to the Labour Party,” Muscat insisted.

He added that he is always ready to give a helping hand but this also depends on whether he will be asked to do so.

During the podcast, Muscat maintained his innocence in ongoing criminal proceedings and defended his legacy as prime minister. “I am calm and serene,” he insisted about the ongoing court case in which he is implicated over corruption in the Vitals hospitals contract.

Muscat would not comment on the case, citing the gag order imposed by the magistrate on all parties.

But when asked point blank why he refused to give the police his seized mobile phone’s password – a situation that could see investigators taking up to a year to unlock the device – Muscat was unapologetic.

“I volunteered to come forward with all the information and the facts but those who had the chance to listen to me did not bother and instead preferred to send the police to search my home… now they cannot expect me to go out of my way,” Muscat said in what was a clear jibe at Magistrate Gabriella Vella, who conducted the Vitals hospitals inquiry that eventually led to his arraignment.

Fall from grace

Muscat and several others, including his former chief of staff Keith Schembri and former ministers Konrad Mizzi, Chris Fearne and Edward Scicluna, are facing various criminal charges over the Vitals case. Muscat, Schembri and Mizzi are facing the toughest charges, including corruption and forming part of an organised criminal network.

Muscat reiterated several times that he was serene despite the criminal case and insisted it will eventually blow up in the face of those whom he claimed were persecuting him. “I have a clean conscience and am at peace with my family,” the former PM said.

Muscat resigned in disgrace from prime minister in January 2020 after businessman Yorgen Fenech was arrested and charged with masterminding the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Muscat was forced to step down following large protests in Valletta during December 2019 as it emerged that people in government and close to it may have acted to shield people connected to Caruana Galizia’s murder from prosecution.

Only last month, former Muscat aide Keith Schembri was charged with perjury and breaking the Official Secrets Act by leaking sensitive information about the murder investigation to alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech. The case has to be re-assigned after the magistrate recused herself.

Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb just outside her house in Bidnija on 16 October 2017. The assassination was linked to her journalistic work. Three men who placed and detonated the bomb admitted guilt and have been sentenced to long jail terms.

Criminal proceedings against two other men, accused of procuring the bomb, are ongoing while Fenech is awaiting trial.

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat