The race between friends
The PN leadership race will have important consequences for our country, especially when one of the hopefuls may possibly be the next Prime Minister.
The contest itself is purely an internal matter for the PN and I had purposely refrained from writing about it, while silently following all that is happening. Given how the contest has degenerated I simply cannot hold back from sharing my views now.
What supposedly started off as a race between friends, ended up in a fight between enemies. By enemies I do not only mean the candidates themselves, but the different factions within the party structures. It seems that the PN has learnt nothing from its consecutive electoral thrashings. Even worse, the PN’s internal conflicts are far bigger than anyone might have thought. The same tactics deployed during the general election, namely negative campaigning and character assassination, which drove the PN into the proverbial wall, are now being used against its leadership candidates. It is obvious that the same clique that hijacked the PN some time ago is still very much in control. There really seems to be no one within the PN ranks with the guts to challenge this clique, and those outsiders who do are being torpedoed round the clock.
Contrary to what some are saying, when comparing this leadership election with the Labour one of 2008, we have never witnessed such a dirty and nasty campaign. It is no secret I was personally involved in the 2008 contest. That election was as important for Labour then as this leadership race for the PN is now. But the two elections are nowhere close to each other. I remember the PL leadership election as being very tightly contested and it surely was a big decision for the party delegates. But it was a fair election, where the contestants treated each other with respect and showed clear visions for the Labour Party and the country. Nothing of that sort is happening now. Vision, values and proposals are clearly lacking from the PN leadership race.
The PN’s General Council will be eliminating two contestants, leaving only two for party members to choose from. This is how the PN establishment is attempting to ensure that the new leader will be the candidate of its choice. Exponents of the PN are publicly undermining Adrian Delia and Frank Portelli. The PN needs to be saved from itself even more than from Labour. Malicious posts on social media against one candidate or another is the order of the day. Delia is being constantly shot at from Bidnija. Imagine what would happen if he won. Portelli is also complaining about personal attacks and about being censured by the PN media, which is controlled by the same clique that does not want change. He actually said he regretted entering the contest in the first place due to ‘dirty tricks’ being used against him. It has become evident that the clique controlling the PN has its preferred candidates, and is doing all in its power to influence the choice of the party councillors.
Amid the myriad controversies surrounding this infamous election, Simon Mercieca, who co-authored the 2013 PN’s electoral defeat report, on Monday wrote in his weekly opinion piece that the contest was rigged. He went further to substantiate his statement by stating that a number of PN councillors and members who are entitled to vote on Saturday, are being denied the right to exercise it, with no valid reason. This demonstrates how the ‘honest politics’ mantra that Simon Busuttil predicated ad nauseam, is put into practice within the PN itself.
In its editorial on Sunday, the Times of Malta said that the PN needed “someone to finish what Simon Busuttil started”. The only thing Busuttil started is the mess the PN finds itself in today, characterised by the politics of hatred and a bile blogger setting the PN’s agenda. The PN is now in a much worse position than it was after the 2013 general election. What Busuttil started, four years ago, has now come back to haunt his party. Ever heard the saying “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword”?
I am not sure whether to describe the turmoil within PN as ridiculous or worrying. The way this election is being handled by the party structures, with the administrative council hastily appointing a committee after the election had started, and asking Delia to withdraw, shows that the PN was never prepared for this situation. This is further proof that Labour was right when it defined the PN as a coalition of confusion. This leadership race is exposing the magnitude of deep internal division within a party riddled with conflict. The PN cannot manage its own house, let alone the country.