Labour’s monopoly of power

As the Opposition digested the resignation of its leader and the nation switched off for another summer season, Labour forged ahead with its project to capture the state.

In one day, Labour massacred the electoral districts to ensure the PN’s chances were destroyed, and then underhandedly changed parliamentary procedures, giving it the power to change the constitution with a simple majority. That is pretty ominous.

In one fell swoop, Labour has hijacked the Constitution and come closer towards ensuring a one-party state.  The irony of it all is that when the Opposition protested, Labour slammed the PN’s “extreme position”.

Minister Jonathan Attard put forward Motion 379 – too boring for anybody to care. But that motion brought in a brand new legislative practice through which Constitutional changes would no longer require a two-thirds majority; a simple majority will do.

Labour, with its huge parliamentary majority, can now basically change the Constitution at will.  That should be setting all alarm bells ringing.

Minister Attard defended the procedure motion as “the only solution” for his “important reforms to go through”.  He argued that if the Opposition continued “to hold the country back” and refused to vote as Labour ordered.

In an utterly bizarre statement, the Labour Party announced that “a Labour government will continue to push forward reforms that strengthen the rule of law in our country and give more power and rights to citizens”.

The only thing Labour has strengthened is its own overwhelming power to do whatever it wants. This is the same party that has just deprived us of our right to request a magisterial inquiry, claiming that it’s manipulating the process by which the Constitution is changed to give us more power and rights.

Even more ominous was its next declaration: “A Labour government will continue to carry out unprecedented reforms and ensure that the will of the majority is respected.”

That translates into we have the majority of votes, we have the majority of parliamentary seats, and we do what we like and “we will not allow the Opposition to hold Parliament hostage”.

Not that anybody had any doubt about the real intentions of our Labour Party.  But now it’s brazenly declaring its prime objective publicly – RIPN.

Labour wants to annihilate any opposition. It wants to assume absolute power and justifies its assault on the Constitution by declaring its majority support.

Labour is following the playbook of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Through Motion 379, Labour has appropriated the power to change the Constitution at will with a simple majority.  Through its gerrymandering of the electoral districts, it intends to retain that majority, by hook or by crook.

That’s why Labour has split Birkirkara into two.  The PN stronghold in Birkirkara has been conveniently sheared off the 8th district and added on to the first district – Valletta, Floriana, Marsa, Hamrun, G’Mangia, Pieta’ and Santa Venera.

That move has destroyed the PN’s chances of ever winning that 8th district again.  The PN representatives on the Electoral Commission strongly opposed the move.  But Labour simply steamrolled over their objections, and having a majority in parliament meant that those changes were simply rubberstamped by Labour’s MPs.

Similarly, Naxxar has been split into two, with one half joining St Julian’s, Paceville, Sliema and Gzira on the 10th district.

Labour is a virtuoso at gerrymandering.  In 1981, Labour won an election despite the fact that PN had an absolute majority of votes, thanks to Labour’s smart manipulation of the districts.

The same would have happened in 1987.  Labour would have retained power despite again winning only a minority of votes, were it not for a last-minute constitutional change.  The Labour Party somehow voted in favour of those changes, which it knew would spell its downfall.

Somehow, Labour brought itself to do what was right.  That vote saved the nation and allowed a transition to take place.

Labour today is an entirely different beast.  It seeks not what is right and fair. It does not pursue the national interest.  It seeks only to preserve and prolong its hold on power.

It is doing everything it can to undermine democracy and to consolidate its dominance.  The stakes are far too high not only for many who are or have been publicly active within the Labour Party but also for Labour’s backers and funders.

Those businessmen and developers who have been ploughing sackloads of cash to sustain the ruling party in return for public money in the shape of direct orders and tenders cannot afford to see Labour relinquish power.

Labour does not intend to let them down.  It’s proving to the whole country that it will stop at nothing to consolidate power.  If it takes changing the electoral districts, that’s easy.  If the Constitution needs to be changed, no Opposition is going to stop them.

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard and Prime Minister Robert Abela have shown how easy it is to get around the rules. If Labour can change the electoral districts and the Constitution with such ease, what won’t it do to remain in power?

The Constitution’s checks are now as fragile as the parchment it was written on. Those who are now cheering Labour’s incredible guile at circumventing constitutional safeguards and manipulating the electoral system should remember they will have nothing to protect them when their government turns on them.