The day after: reflections
The day after the result of the first round of the PN leadership campaign, which has attracted all the attention during this long, hot, summer, the comments are naturally varied.
Many have seen the result as Adrian Delia’s triumph in the face of allegations of impropriety and also in the face of a hinted suggestion by the party’s ethics and administrative committees he would do better to shelve his campaign, which he did not.
Undoubtedly, this was a triumph of sorts for Dr Delia and it was received as such not just by his supporters who flocked to Dar Ċentrali on Saturday and those who flocked to the PN clubs he visited yesterday. It was also received as such by many who commented on the social media and on the comment spaces online.
The maths of the Saturday election tell a rather different story, however. Dr Delia obtained 616 votes in his favour, something like 40% of the votes cast. But if one were to add the votes obtained by Chris Said and
Editor’s pick
those obtained by Alex Perici-Calascione, the third contender, 425 and 290 respectively, one obtained a total of 721, which is higher than the votes obtained by Delia.
However, the voters who will decide the contest on 16 September are the party cardholders, in an absolutely novel experiment and there is no saying they will replicate Saturday’s vote by the party delegates. The leadership campaign has been structured by Dr Delia’s team as being waged against what he calls the Establishment of the party. It is not clear who this Establishment consists of. Certainly Daphne Caruana Galizia who is not a party member but who came up with what might be called damaging information about Dr Delia (if confirmed in the libel courts). Most probably Simon Busuttil who led the party for the past four years until the heaviest defeat three months ago.
Talk about uniting the party is a bit rich now after all that was said and done. The damage most probably has been done and the party will suffer the consequences. People who are aghast at the votes obtained by Dr Delia are already saying they will not vote. Many will undoubtedly return to the fold when the next election campaign comes around but the PN hardly needs defections now that it is fighting against a 40,000 deficit.
It will not be easy for people on either side of the fence to forget what was said and written these past weeks. The PN’s claim to be the party of righteousness and of probity has been shredded in this welter of accusations and counter-accusations.
First, however, the second and last round of the election campaign must come and one will see better after the winner is declared and the party has its new leader. Or rather not, for immediately after the election of the leader, the party will be plunged into another campaign for the deputy leaders. And so on and so forth.