Loyal is as loyal does

This is excerpted from an article by Alfred Mifsud, published in The Malta Independent yesterday. It is about the Labour Party leadership election, and the question of whether loyalty to the leader should take precedence over loyalty to the party.

“I find it illogical that some contestants are sporting proclaimed loyalty as a worthy qualification for the post. Firstly, it should be established to whom loyalty is due. Should one be loyal to the organisation or to its leader? It is true that often this is one and the same thing. But this is not always the case. Certainly, it was not the case in Labour’s fold following Alfred Sant’s re-election as leader in 2003. It was clear that Alfred Sant over-used his power of incumbency to get himself re-elected by excluding more promising contestants. To name but a few, I can vouch that George Abela and Evarist Bartolo, among others, would have contested if the post was not being reclaimed by Sant with the unfair advantage of his incumbency. I had to take a decision. I was forced to choose between being loyal to the leader and disloyal to Labour or being loyal to Labour and disloyal to the leader who himself was being disloyal to the organisation which he was supposed to lead by example.

………In loyalty to the organisation, I refused to be muzzled, and continued on my quest to avoid Labour’s third consecutive crash. How can anyone who accepted to be muzzled consider themselves as being endowed with the attribute of loyalty, when in fact their submissiveness and silence is more typical of disloyalty by putting their personal political career before the party’s interest? Is it not funny how many contestants are now professing their internal disagreement with Sant, and are distancing themselves from responsibility for Labour’s third defeat by claiming they were not allowed to voice their opinions and were not informed of what was actually happening, and who was taking real decisions on the campaign strategy? By so doing, they are all showing their lack of leadership attributes. Leadership means leading, not just following.

……Labour delegates have a grave responsibility to consider this matter seriously, so that they choose true leaders and not lesser mortals at the helm of the party. Ultimately, whoever is elected will stand or fall by the choice of the wider electorate – who certainly can distinguish between true leaders and mere followers who have difficulty in distinguishing between abilities of coordination and qualities of leadership.”