One might ask, what do John Dalli and Caravaggio have in common?

Simple. When there was an evident mud-slinging campaign, mainly fomented in-house, against then Foreign Minister John Dalli, he was rubbished on Lou Bondi’s TV programme five days before his forced resignation. So much so, that as a panelist I could have virtually taken a back-seat. Which I tactically did for the first half of the programme.

Now that the same Mr Dalli has been conveniently rehabilitated by the PM, virtually on the eve of the election in a manner that posed more questions than answers, rather than probing the latest developments in this sad and obviously painful three year old saga Lou Bondi chose to dedicate yesterday week’s Bondiplus to Caravaggio! For this reason, it came as no surprise that the same John Dalli seemed to rope in Dr Gonzi’s communications coordinator – journalist Steve Mallia, and Lou Bondi in an alleged spin against him.

Let me come clean about John Dalli.

Although we shadowed each other on finance and economic affairs for a couple of years, regardless of the fact that I consider him to have been mainly responsible for the financial mess that triggered early elections in 1996, as evidenced by his confidential memo to the EFA cabinet on the dire financial situation prevalent then. I never doubted his technical competence, and the skilful manner in which he put his private sector exposure to good use, particularly by way of a hands on approach.

This was also evident in his short stint as Foreign Minister, where he managed to contain and reverse the subservient approach adopted by Minister Joe Borg to the EU, often to the detriment of relations with third world countries. So much so that in Mr Dalli’s few months in charge of foreign affairs he gave a new momentum to relations with the Arab world, China and the Russian Federation – a lot of which receded once Minister Frendo took over his portfolio. Although to be fair to the latter, he was and remains far more balanced in his approach than Minister Borg who ended up as a helpless victim of his EU political obsession.

Lawrence Gonzi’s unilateral decision to bring John Dalli back to the fold was to my mind solely inspired by expediency, electoral considerations and political opportunism.

While Labour did criticise John Dalli’s behaviour in office on various counts, Mr Dalli had made it clear on TV that what worried him most were not the MLP attacks, but the backstabbing of his own party members. On the other hand, if memory serves me well, the PN secretary general was once reported to have said on TV that there were valid reasons enough for Minister Dalli to step down!

Notwithstanding his reading out what seemed to be an agreed prepared and written media conference speech, PM Gonzi failed to address the key issue – what really led to Minister Dalli’s, evidently forced, resignation.

While word had long been going round in circles close to the PN that former Minister Dalli was heading for the same treatment meted out by the PN to former eminent PN shadow minister Mario Felice, many Nationalists found his articles in the local media, particularly in The Sunday Times newspaper, to be unsettling at best, and disturbing and destabilising at worst.

Even more worrying was a pronouncement he once made – if Maltastar reported him correctly – that he was determined to speak out at the right moment and in the right place. Or rather, when and where he deemed fit to do so. All this without being specific about what he could have had in mind.

This might have spurred the PM to try and reach some sort of peace deal at all costs. Even it turned out to be flimsier than the worst case scenario that could result from the Annapolis Middle East summit.

One cannot forget ex Minister Dalli’s resounding claims denouncing the cost over-runs by the Lawrence Gonzi administration on the Mater Dei project, when contrasted with the projected Lm93m capping of his own time. Or his lament on the excessive strength of the euro and the negative effect it could have on our economy given the rate at which we locked in with it.

He had also often argued that government was risking coming across as an EU lapdog with its approach on certain pivotal issues.

As politicians we all make tactical mistakes in our careers, but I personally think that Mr Dalli’s strongest strategic error was to run for the party leadership. Not because of lack of leadership qualities but because of the internal political tsunami it unleashed.

This and this alone could explain why State TV had, a few days before his ‘forced’ resignation, cooked up a critical feature on him, which broke all house rules by conveniently quoting a leading local newspaper in Mr Dalli’s regard. Merely to embarrass and rubbish him.

My personal impression is that the PM did not really need this truce to take Dalli on board as a candidate for the elections, since he is known to have already announced his candidature on two key districts many months ago. Within PN ranks.

It seems to be more of a case of buying his silence rather than a forced peace deal.

I have no qualms about John Dalli getting a clean bill of political health. After all I always considered him a rival and a colleague, but never an enemy. But I surely cannot claim the same for the political damage the PM has done to his own credibility in the process. So much so that another English newspaper, a few days ago remarked that rather than solving this tangled web the plot merely thickened!

As if this was not enough, two days ago Dalli himself complicated matters further by refusing to rule out another leadership bid if the PN loses the next general elections. That apart, he did not mince words when declaring that he still has some old scores to settle!

A headless Schengen unit

It is shameful that the government still has not found a Head of Department for the Schengen Unit. Particularly since the applications closed on the 28 June. Five months ago!!

I hope that there is no validity in the strong rumours that a legalistic way is being sought to make it possible for the post to be filled by someone who was originally disqualified for the post, and who is presently working at the Foreign Office on a contract basis. Time will tell.

The minister’s statement in Parliament that his ministry is still in consultation with the OPM MPO considering how to proceed under these circumstances, adds even more mystery to the saga! I bet every cent or euro in my bank account, that particularly with the new government- UHM deal in the bag, the likeliest contender will be the very same person who was originally disqualified!!! Just you wait and see!!!

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Leo Brincat is the opposition spokesman for Foreign Affairs & IT