Arrigo’s offer is shortsighted
Robert Arrigo’s offer to relinquish his role as PN Deputy Leader to Bernard Grech is well-intentioned but it’s also pointless and came too late in the game.
Arrigo said during a TV interview that he believes the PN’s leadership election is harming the party. So he has come up with the proposal to give his role to Grech, meaning that the latter would drop out of the election. In turn, Adrian Delia would remain party leader.
The problem with Arrigo’s offer is that it is short-sighted.
Has he forgotten the turmoil that rocked the party over the past three years, which intensified in recent weeks and months? Does he think that Delia’s opponents, who are gaining support with every passing day, will be content with such an offer and agree to let him stay on as leader? Would such a move simply make all the PN’s problems go away?
Of course not!
Arrigo has a point on one thing: the election is causing further strife within the party because, let’s face it, elections can get ugly. People supporting the different candidates will always try to undermine their opponent, even if they do so unofficially, and without the blessing or knowledge of the candidate they back.
But this is a natural part of every election. It cannot be avoided.
What should be avoided is a situation where people try to keep the status quo when it is evidently clear that it is not working.
It was established very clearly in the past weeks that something needs to change. That the current leadership, despite its efforts in reforming the party’s finances and structures, is not making any inroads with the electorate.
Despite the countless scandals and the ongoing revelations in court, the party is no more popular today than it was in 2013.
Furthermore, the relationship between Adrian Delia and his opponents has turned sour to the point that it cannot be repaired.
The only way to solve this impasse is with a proverbial duel between the two candidates. They need to ‘fight’ it out fairly on the tesserati battleground and may the best man win.
Once that happens, everyone in the party has to rally behind the new leader, whoever it may be. Those who do not agree should do the right thing and step aside. This is the fairest way to choose a leader, and the result must be respected.
Whatever the case, the process must go ahead. Imagine if, halfway through the due diligence process, the PN decides not to hold the election after all. What a farce that would be.
And what is Bernard Grech expected to do? Drop everything, stop his campaign and take up the deputy leadership? What would that achieve?
No, Arrigo’s proposal makes absolutely no sense and he should not even have contemplated the idea. It is true that the Nationalist Party is taking a beating but it needs to go through the election process, however painful it may be, before it can start healing again.
The PN prides itself on its democratic credentials and trying to circumvent a democratic process is definitely not the solution.