If there is one candidate that ticks all the boxes that make up New Labour, it is definitely Alex Saliba. Having made his way up through the grassroots of the party, tramite Pulse and FZL, Alex has been administered the necessary medicine that makes one a staunch Labourite, but without the side effects. His law degree has polished his rough edges and whilst still considered a rookie by some, he has enough brain muscle to enter the fare.

Life is made up of important decisions, and besides the most important one he will be making next week when he ties the knot with Zebbug Mayor Sarah Agius; Alex has just made another, a decision that will definitely leave an impact on his future irrespective of the end result of whether he gets elected or not.

The group of candidates the PL will be fielding for the upcoming elections will offer Alex a big challenge especially when the whole line up is complete, he will have to work hard and form the right allegiances to make it to the coveted institution. It will not be easy, firstly because he is a new candidate, secondly because there is a lot at stake and thirdly because the 6^th seat might swing to any side meaning he could miss the bus by a few precious seconds, or in our case, votes.

Having led PULSE and FZL for a considerable time has fine tuned his abilities and natural traits as a leader, he is a team builder and his charm may unarm many who mistake his calm demeanour for a weakness. In fact he has adopted a very Joseph Muscatish attitude and that will definitely go down well with both the average labour voter and with floaters that are shopping around for a candidate that they can more easily identify themselves with.

I have spoken to some of his colleagues and they all gave me the impression that he is a doer and that he leads by example. In line with the Socialist credo he has put the citizen at the heart of his campaign, this without elaborating too much on the how’s and whys, but he can, at the moment, be absolved of that as the campaign is still in its infancy.

His attack on Peter Agius earlier this month, was in my opinion, a bit rash and he will have to control his emotions and get his facts checked, once, twice and three times if necessary, before making similar statements in the future, campaigning for MEP elections is different from campaigning to become PULSE President and the ground work has to be precise.

From a PL point of view, Alex is definitely the anti-Cyrus. Albeit finding himself once again in the candidates list, (whether he makes it to voting day is another argument) it is evident that Engerer has fallen out of grace. Labour leadership is of course too astute not to approve his candidacy but I have no doubts that the decision makers on the fourth floor of the CNL will try and make his journey as miserable as possible. He had his chance, he lost it. He made 85k a year keeping chairs warm in Brussels for some time to keep him happy; now his honeymoon is over. There is no room for embarrassment this time around, and blue eyed boy Alex is an excellent alternative.

The pattern in these last elections have shown us that Labour voters have either developed a super ability to vote in a way that no vote is wasted or else they are being coached to do so to maximize the power of the vote and give any particular candidate the edge over another. CNL will surely have Alex’s name high up on the list.

With all the channels leading to the Prime Minister open for Dr.Saliba, with a group of friends that have formed an excellent campaign team, a future wife that is a very popular figure in her hometown and who has her own network, which will undoubtedly will be used to her husband’s advantage, with charm and age on his side and with a brain that actually works, Alex will most definitely fight it till the end. His first activities have been very well attended, and from what I saw, there were several vote pullers in the crowd.

Alex has the perfect curriculum to make it to Brussels, he is also very ambitious, I just hope that he is able to keep his ambition under control to save him from making rash comments that might cause him precious votes.