PN rents out space on its ballot sheet

These are exciting times indeed. After a massive electoral victory the size of which no one ever imagined in tribal Malta and after a socialist party morphed into a post-soviet capitalist government, we now have a coalition which, in principle set out to defy electoral laws and challenge the status quo by offering a variety of principles under the PN emblem. In simple words, all the PN is doing is renting out space on its ballot sheet for PD candidates to showcase themselves, giving them a better chance to be elected. Had the PD gone solo as one would expect, the chances of getting elected would have been close to none.

So what is this coalition all about? Primarily both parties want Joseph Muscat out and they both speak of good governance. Thus, it stands to reason that it is Joseph Muscat himself who gave birth to this union between the PN and PD. Remove him from the equation and the reason why Marlene Farrugia and Simon Busuttil chose to cooperate evaporates.

Why did the PD officials accept to be listed under the PN emblem? This may embed today’s society where ideology doesn’t matter anymore and the party emblem is simply a brand worth exploiting. Marlene Farrugia must have battled her conscience before accepting to be listed next to PN former ministers she has scolded for the past decade.

Why is the PN ready to share space on its ballot sheet with a party that is practically non-existent? If one had to compare the way the PN treats AD with how it is engaging with PD and ask how is it that the PN didn’t go out of its way to coalesce with AD, the answer is very clear to see. Besides the fact that AD is too proud of its short but intense history to succumb to the bigger fish, the other obvious reason is that the PN understood that should it win an election with PD on its bandwagon, the latter will not garner enough votes to have a proper voice in government. This could not be the case had the PN reached the same arrangement with AD.

So Simon Busuttil must have figured out that the only way to muzzle Marlene Farrugia from criticising the PN is by gobbling up her little party and placing her on the front line to attack everything that Muscat stands for. Not a bad strategy for a relatively new leader who inherited the biggest electoral defeat in Maltese history and a party with bare resources to tap into.

In the meantime, the PL was caught off guard upon Marlene’s announcement that the coalition has been born. They resorted to ridicule and came up with the lame spin that now the PN has two leaders instead of one. This is quite an advancement for Busuttil, considering that a week ago the PL was claiming that he had no grip on his party. Now, in the eyes of the PL, Busuttil must have grown in stature securing a deal with PD, hiring the PL whip’s partner to tear into the PL till election day.

From media reports, it seems that the announcement caught some pundits in the PN off guard as well. Aside from those who will be affected by Marlene’s candidature on the same ballot sheet, rendering it more difficult for them to get elected, there are those who feel that the principles of the PN are being side-lined. “We speak against populism and then make a populist move,” said one MP in confidence to this newspaper.

The PN needs to gather its people and explain the benefits of this deal with PD. The worst thing the PN can do is let everyone on the loose with the risk that a whispering campaign is initiated to cut out PD candidates from the Nationalist voting pattern. This will break up the union at a crucial moment and will hurt the PN in public perception much more than it would dent the PD.