The Leader of the Opposition and Nationalist Party Simon Busuttil has been taking lessons with a foreign expert brought in by the PN to help its leader develop a stronger public presence in television debates and at mass meetings and other public events, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.

The efforts by the party to brush up its leader's public appearance are part of an internal strategic plan to maximise Dr Busuttil's confidence in public, but people close to 'Stamperija' told this newsroom that the need to improve Dr Busuttil's charisma had become apparent just after the embarrassing show-down in the last MEP elections, in which the PN failed to register any significant progress over the devastating general election result a year earlier. 

This newsroom is informed that the foreign media expert will be helping other prominent PN officials over the coming weeks. Given its dilapidated financial situation, it is not yet clear who is financing these 'private lessons' for the PN and if this type of exercise, which was highly criticised by the PN when former PL Leader Alfred Sant and present leader Joseph Muscat took similar initiatives, will bear the desired fruit.

In essence, PN party loyalists had begun doubting whether their young leader could be a match for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who seems to have developed the same mesmerising effect former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff had on the masses.

Following the defeat in his first national elections at the helm of the PN, sources who spoke with this newsroom claim that Dr Busuttil had changed gear in the party and begun to command with a new and stronger vigour. 

It is no secret that the PN leader had to appease two opposing factions within the party on the delicate issue of civil unions - a stand that he may live to regret as it saw him positioned as a weak leader.

Just yesterday, the first PN Convention saw heard transgender businessperson Alex Mangion tell the PN convention that the party's decision to abstain from voting on the Civil Unions Bill was a mistake, one that should not be repeated when voting on the Gender Identity Bill.
"I find myself thinking twice before going to a bank, because I'd have to present my ID card that is still registered under a female identity," he said.

But since the civil unions vote, and due to a wave of external and internal criticism, Dr Busuttil needed to take a firm grip on the reins of the party and implement his vision of a centre-liberal force. In so doing, he has set out to reform the party's media platform. New faces have been added to the team, while other loyal staff who survived the financial meltdown following the electoral defeat where moved to other duties.

Despite that, the party's different media platforms have shown hardly any change in tone or attitude as yet. Sources close to the PN Administrative Council told this newsroom that Simon Busuttil does not need a public relations coach. They argue that it was, amongst other factors, thanks to his charisma that the 'Yes' vote in the EU referendum of 2003 won, providing the PN with a winning ticket for the following two elections of 2003 and 2008. 

But Dr Busuttil must have succumbed to internal pressures for him to have consented to be lectured in public speaking and body language - his boyish looks do not seem to be enough to take on a strong and cash-liquid Labour Party in government with a clear plan to stay in power for the next 10 years at least.

Amongst the strategies forged on the third floor of the 'Stamperija' is that of reaching out to those who once saw in the PN a beacon of democracy and a trendsetter. This was also the essence of Prof. Joe Pirotta's speech at the Convention which is being held over this weekend.

Just as it had done with the idea of having two deputy leaders, the PN swallowed a bitter pill by imitating Joseph Muscat's Labour and initiating a party convention. 

In its general make-up, the PN is trying to reach out to those who had fallen out with the party by showing what an inclusive party it has become post-Lawrence Gonzi. Yet, in doing so, it is also trying to convey the message that the likes of former EU Commissioner John Dalli, Law Commissioner and former PN MP Franco Debono and ex PN MP Jeffery Pullicino Orlando are not welcome within the new PN.

However, those behind the throne scripting the Convention's storyboard may be playing with fire, with keynote speakers such veteran journalist and media guru Godfrey Grima, once a Cabinet buddy of the Fenech Adami administration who was disillusioned by the Gonzi team and who turned to becoming a 'Tagħna Lkoll' consultant. Mr Grima did not mince his words at Friday's convention, nor was he intimidated by the audience. He simply told a panel chaired by the PN's former communications director Frank Psaila to start looking at is own leadership and to realise how it had let people down. While Dr Psaila, who was part of the electoral team in the 2013, simply looked on as Prof. Oliver Friggieri reassured the gathering that the PN had many successes in the past and it just needs to look ahead.