Busuttil short on answers after Mario Galea’s scathing criticism of PN
● No answer on questions on parliamentary seat, PN-PD coalition ● Galea blasted Busuttil’s style as ‘authoritarian’
Leader of the Nationalist Party Simon Busuttil has refrained from commenting on PN MP Mario Galea’s scathing attack of the current party leadership.
Contacted by The Malta Independent, a PN spokesperson said that “Dr Busuttil rests on the judgement of the people who voted for the PN last June. Out of respect for them and out of respect for the more than twenty thousand people who voted for him personally, Dr Busuttil will refrain from reacting to what Mario Galea said.”
This is puzzling given that the disastrous election result has exposed serious divisions within the PN, and it appears that Busuttil seems more intent on satisfying the ‘caretaker’ label his critics have bestowed upon him ever since 5 June, passing the buck to the next PN leader by avoiding the series of questions put before him and finding solutions for the disarray the party finds itself in.
This newsroom had previously confirmed with a PN spokesperson that Busuttil did not intend to commission a report into the electoral loss, despite the widening gap between the two main parties.
Last Saturday, Galea took to social media not only to heavily criticise the current PN leadership, but also calling for Busuttil to give up his parliamentary seat as his predecessor, Lawrence Gonzi, had done.
“Not because he doesn’t have anything to offer; but since he has decided to resign from the position of party leader, he should give up his parliamentary seat and not remain in the shadow of whoever the new leader would be.”
No reply was given to questions on what Busuttil intended to do.
Galea also confirmed what Chris Said had told Indepth; that the coalition deal with Partit Demokratiku had never been debated within the parliamentary group, and that PN MPs had found out about it through the media.
Once again, there was no answer when asked about the reasoning behind this decision.
Galea, echoing what PN MP Edwin Vassallo had told The Malta Independent on Sunday when he described Busuttil as a “totalitarian” figure within the party, also criticised the PN leader’s “authoritarian” style in failing to consider opinions which differed to his own.
Rosette Thake, serving as PN Secretary General till a replacement is found, also found herself in the line of fire, with Galea claiming that she “had been imposed on the party by the party leader. More suitable people who wanted to contest at the time were ordered not to do so by the party leadership.”
“The consequence of this was that we ended up with a secretary general who did not know the party.”
He went on to say that she did not have any idea of political strategy.
“Sometimes I think that we did not lose the last election, but gave Labour a walkover. We had no strategy, We did not even manage to reach everyone with our electoral programme.”
When taking the election result into account, it is fair to say this is an apt analysis of the internal working of the PN, but once again, Busuttil declined to provide a comment.