Delia’s anniversary appeal to party dissenters: we can stand together

As Adrian Delia today marks his first anniversary as leader of the Nationalist Party, he launches a heartfelt appeal to those quarters of the party that have not yet warmed up to him: “Come and talk, debate, work, discuss, and understand that after we go through everything we have to realise that we have so much in common and so little that divides us.

“But what we have in common is so strong and it is so important to remove our adversary for the good of our country, that we will resolve these differences. We have one direction; we come from the same party; have the same values, the same history.”

Delia, in a wide- ranging interview marking his first year at the party’s helm, says of any dissenters within the party: “It’s completely insane to believe that all of us will think in the same manner about everything. Not even twins do that.

“But then you have to see what your priorities are. If we understand that the list of priorities and values are common, and that there are peripherals that we might disagree upon, we can stand together.

“It’s a mosaic that we need to build but we need to do this together.

“My invitation? Do you really love your country? Do you really believe Labour is doing a good job? If not, the Nationalist Party - one strong, united Nationalist Party - is the only solution, period.”

The Simon Busuttil problem

That internal party discord reached new levels recently in the wake of the Egrant inquiry, with former leader Simon Busuttil having refused Delia’s suggestion to step down.

Delia explains, “Simon Busuttil contributed massively to Maltese politics, he made a personal sacrifice to leave a comfortable position in Brussels to contribute to the local scene. But, numbers showed, he failed. He took responsibility, which very few people do, and decided to stay on as a backbencher. That is also unprecedented in Malta, as former leaders usually bow out.

“So I found myself in this situation. I am a person who does not really feel shackled just because someone is there or does not agree with everything I do. Simon Busuttil has the liberty to work if he is to toe the party line; if he wants to work less he can do so as well.

“I think it is time to stop concentrating on Simon Busuttil and to start concentrating on how to bring down this corrupt government. That is the major issue that is now afflicting the reputation of our country, and which will affect the country for years to come if we do not address it seriously.”

Asked if he has met with Busuttil since the very public spat, Delia says, “Actually not yet formally, but there are absolutely no closed doors on my part. I will go meet and speak with anyone.

“But I think Simon Busuttil needs to see what he wants and how he wants to contribute to the PN.”

Most are of the opinion that while Delia has control of the party’s hierarchy and internal structures, the parliamentary group is another matter altogether. That, in Delia’s eyes, is not such a bad thing: “We are not a totalitarian party. I do not always have the parliamentary group behind me. If that was the case, I would think that I was in the wrong party. I appreciate people who debate and disagree with me, and sometimes they convince me to change my mind.

“This is a healthy process. I do, however, expect that while on issues of ethics and morality I would give a free vote to my MPs, as have done, then when the party decides on something I expect, because there is collective responsibility, that everyone toes the line.”

Labour: the preserve of the privileged

Another accusation doing the rounds is that the new leader is simply turning the Nationalist Party into Labour v2.0, a suggestion he takes no small exception to: “Absolutely not. It is a question of values. What does Labour stand for? Labour has lost its social soul. Labour was once the party of the workers and of the poor. It is no longer.

“Labour has become the preserve of the privileged.

“I think Joseph Muscat realised that being a Socialist will never win him an election, like it never did for 25 years before that. He did not care, he threw it away, and did not even need to call it ‘Labour’ anymore. He now calls it a ‘Movement’.

“Labour stands for nothing, we stand for values, principles, tolerance, democracy, listening to the people - we stand for the common good.”

The world’s first carbonneutral country?

Delia has particularly strong words when it comes to the environment, insisting that the PN will make the environment “no longer an impediment to the economy, but an economic sector in itself.

“The environment has been kicked in the face, it has been beaten to a pulp by Labour.

“I think the government is actually doing its best to destroy the environment and farming so as to actually place its cosmopolitan buildings everywhere. I do not agree with that at all. I think we have little left and we have an obligation to ourselves, to our children and to the generations to come to not only conserve what we have, but to start growing it slowly again.

“The environment has to be at the centre of every decision that we take – education, health infrastructure, energy – it has to be at the centre of every decision the country takes.

“I believe that we can be the first country in the world not to keep on eating up ODZ to build petrol stations, but instead be the first country without carbon-fuelled cars.

“We can do that. It is a question of political will alone, full stop.

“We can strive to be the first carbon-neutral country in the world. It is ambitious, but I believe we can do it. We say we do not have resources, but we do – the wind, sun and sea. These are the most potent renewable energy sources that exist in the world today. Technology is moving so fast that while in the past such sources were not able to give us the amount of energy we need as a country, today it can.”

“We can have offshore structures harnessing wind, wave and solar energy but it seems there is no political will to do so.

“We have the fourth-most polluted air in the EU and are we happy that our kids are running around in it? And we want to keep on building, adding more cars and more people? At this rate our grandchildren are all going to be wearing face masks, and that is a sad prospect.

“The PN will put the environment at the top of its priorities and at the centre of economic generation, rather than making it a hurdle to economic development.

“Let me be clear, I am not telling anyone in business that this means business is dead. No, it is the other way around. We can actually make the environment a philosophy that becomes an economic sector in itself. You just need to diversify, educate, and understand the technologies and opportunities of the future, and then people can make their money there.

“We need a complete rethink: rather than monetary terms, quality of life; rather than how much money we have in the bank, how happy we are; rather than a budget surplus, ensure that we are safe happy and green again.

“We already had much of this, and we threw it away.”

Economic success: who is reaping the rewards?

Is the man in the street really reaping the rewards of this supposed great economic success being achieved by the government, budget surplus and all?

“I think we have an amazing government insofar as marketing is concerned. So the government creates a feel good factor, says we have a surplus, says the economy is doing great, and if people believe that everyone else is doing well, very few will have the courage to say that only they are not doing well.

“Speaking as a father with kids, if your kids are going out three times a week in summer maybe, how much do you give them for the cinema and a snack? €10, €20? Which parent will tell their kid they can’t go out because they don’t have €10 to give them? But this all adds up and it becomes very difficult to tell your children that you can’t afford to get them the latest gadget or sneakers.

“So what happens is exactly what happened in the United States - they start borrowing and start expecting to live beyond their means.

“And, on the other hand, you have the construction industry, the largest and fastest growing sector, which has grown by around 30 per cent in the last couple years. Do you know how much the per capita earnings of the workers in that industry have grown? Between 0.5 per cent and one per cent.

“This is not only a Maltese problem. In any economy that is overheating, the rich get richer, and I’m very happy with that, but the poor get poorer faster.

“But people believe these eco- nomic benefits are eventually going to trickle down to them because every once in a while the government sends out a €40 check, and it keeps people happy.

“This is dangerous for society. I think we are raising a generation of kids with a sense of entitlement. My father’s generation was post-war frugal, mine was about educating our kids so they can make their way in life. Today we are going to an extreme: an expectation of entitlement, and that’s dangerous.

“And the government is, sadly, promoting this because it wants to keep on this mantra of surplus, surplus, surplus. It is the people who create wealth through their hard work, it is the businesses that invest and the governments that creates poverty – precisely because it is the government’s job to harness the wealth being created and to ensure it is spread out in as equitable a manner as possible – not in handouts, but in opportunities, and in creating new educational areas for our children.

“So we are failing drastically, and at some point we are going to hit a wall because if we have a surplus and we are not investing in capital projects and infrastructural projects now, when will we?

“If when we have a surplus we have 70,000 people on the verge of poverty, and 20,000 who can-

Photo: Michael Camilleri