Joseph Muscat
| The Honourable Joseph Muscat MP |
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|---|---|
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| Malta's Leader of the Opposition | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 October 2008 |
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| President | Eddie Fenech Adami George Abela |
| Deputy | Angelo Farrugia |
| Preceded by | Charles Mangion |
| Member of Parliament | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 October 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Joseph Cuschieri |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 6 June 2006 |
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| Deputy | Toni Abela |
| Preceded by | Alfred Sant |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 12 June 2004 – 25 September 2008 |
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| Preceded by | New Constituency |
| Succeeded by | Edward Scicluna |
| Majority | 36,958 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 January 1974 Pietà, Malta |
| Nationality | Maltese |
| Political party | Labour Party (Malta) Party of European Socialists |
| Spouse(s) | Michelle née Tanti |
| Children | Etoile Ella Soleil Sophie |
| Residence | Burmarrad (San Pawl il-Bahar) |
| Profession | Economist Journalist |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website | www.josephmuscat.com www.mlp.org.mt |
Joseph Muscat (born January 22, 1974) is a Maltese politician who has been leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives of Malta since 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Education
Muscat graduated Bachelor of Commerce in Management and Public Policy from the (University of Malta, 1995), Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Public Policy (University of Malta, 1996), Master of Arts in European Studies (University of Malta, 1997) and Ph.D in Management Research (University of Bristol, 2007).
[edit] Journalism
Muscat worked as a journalist with the Party's radio station, Super One Radio (today One Radio). He later took on a similar role at Super One TV (today One TV).[1], becoming the station's assistant head of news in 1996. He was also editor of Party's online newspaper, maltastar.com [2] between 2001 and 2004.
[edit] Politics
Muscat was as a member of the youth section of the Labour Party, the Labour Youth Forum (Forum Żgħażagħ Laburisti) where he served as Financial Secretary (1994–97) and Acting Chairperson (1997). He later served as Education Secretary in the Central Administration of the Party (2001–2003) and Chairman of its Annual General Conference (November 2003). During the Labour government of 1996-98 he was a member of the National Commission for Fiscal Morality (1997–98). Between 1998 and 2003, Joseph Muscat campaigned actively against Malta's membership in the European Union.
In 2003 he was nominated to a working group led by George Vella and Evarist Bartolo on the Labour Party's policies on the European Union. This working group produced the document Il-Partit Laburista u l-Unjoni Ewropea: Għall-Ġid tal-Maltin u l-Għawdxin ('Labour Party and the European Union: For the benefit of the Maltese and the Gozitans') which was adopted by the Labour Party Extraordinary General Conference in November of that year. At this General Conference Muscat was approved as a candidate for the election to the European Parliament.
[edit] European Parliament
Muscat was elected to the European Parliament in the 2004 European Parliament election being the Labour Party receiving the most first-preferences. Sitting as a Member of the European Parliament with the Party of European Socialists, he held the post of Vice-President of the Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and substitute member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He was a member of a number of delegations for relations with Belarus and with the countries of south-east Europe. He was also a member of the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committees.
As an MEP he supported a reduction in the tax for Satellite television, the right for customers to watch sport events for free and a number of issues related to environmental protection in Malta. He formed part of a team responsible for a report on the roaming mobile phone bills and sale of banks.
Muscat resigned his seat in the European Parliament in 2008 to take up a seat in the Maltese Parliament and the role of Leader of the Opposition after being elected Leader of the Labour Party. Before his resignation his report proposing new regulations for the EU’s financial services sector was adopted by the European Parliament.
[edit] 2008 Leader of Labour Party campaign
On March 24, 2008 Muscat announced his candidacy for Leader of Labour Party, to replace Alfred Sant, who resigned after a third consecutive defeat for the Party in the March 2008 general election and a heavy defeat in the EU referendum in March 2003. Muscat was elected as the new party leader on June 6, 2008.
He was co-opted in the Maltese Parliament on 1 October 2008 to fill the seat vacated by Joseph Cuschieri, the latter gaining the 6th Maltese seat for the European Parliament as the Treaty of Lisbon has been brought into effect, (de facto) on the 6th of June, 2011 and (de jure) on the 1st of December, 2011.
[edit] 2009 Maltese European Parliament Elections
In the 2009 Maltese European Parliament Elections, the first with Muscat as Party Leader, Labour Party candidates obtained 55% of first-preferences against the 40% obtained by candidates of the Nationalist Party.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website of Joseph Muscat: www.josephmuscat.com
- European Parliament biography of Joseph Muscat (incl. Speeches, Questions and Motions)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Mangion |
Malta's Leader of the Opposition 2008–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Joseph Cuschieri |
Member of the Maltese Parliament 2008–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by New Constituency |
Member of the European Parliament 2004 – 2008 |
Succeeded by Glenn Bedingfield |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Alfred Sant |
Leader of the Labour Party 2008–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by |
Education Secretary of the Labour Party 2001 – 2003 |
Succeeded by Lawrence Mintoff |
