On the surface, Simon Busuttil's words on George Pullicino during last Sunday's Nationalist Party activity seemed to be in defence of the former Resources Minister, under fire as he is from the Labour camp on allegations about an excessive feed-in tariff on a solar panel contract during his time as minister.

But, deep down, and if one were to look beyond the smiles and new poses, the PN leader was sending a different message and at the same time distancing himself from the situation.

What the PN leader was saying is that Mr Pullicino is on his own and he could become the party's (first?) sacrificial lamb in an effort for it to be seen as being clean. In other words, if Mr Pullicino is found to have committed some kind of irregularity, it would be to the PN's advantage because his eventual dismissal from the party - Dr Busuttil hinted as much in his speech - would earn it some kudos.

The mere fact that the PN leader entertained Labour's arguments on George Pullicino, which were timed to derail the attention from the Prime Minister's unfulfilled promise to resign if the power station is not operational by March 2015, gives an indication of where he wants to go with the issue.

It is clear that there is an attempt from the new leadership of the Nationalist Party to push the old guard aside as much as possible. The George Pullicino case is just one of the examples that come to mind. Tonio Fenech is another former minister who is seen by the new leadership as carrying too much baggage from his past as a minister to be considered as an asset for the new image the PN is trying to create. The same goes for Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.

And, with Giovanna Debono already declaring that she will move out of politics at the end of this legislature, and with Francis Zammit Dimech having already tried a way out by contesting the European Parliament elections, any chance the party will have to make a clean sweep of the past will be taken with open arms.

Of the previous Cabinet of Ministers, only Joe Cassar and Jason Azzopardi are seen to be close to the leader. Deputy leaders Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami are running their very own side-kick show, unfazed by a new leader who knows better than taking too many challenges at one go.  One wonders where Secretary General Chris Said fits in all this now that he's been replaced on corporate matters by former Lawrence Gonzi aid Brian St John.

It is said that leaders try to keep their friends close and their enemies closer - whether it was Sun-Tzu, Michael Corleone of The Godfather fame or Macchiavelli who said it the first time doesn't really matter.

If the new PN wants to tell its electorate that come 2018 most of its previously elected Ministers are not welcome on its ticket, then so be it, but it should be bold and say it in earnest now, more than three years before the election, instead of doing what Lawrence Gonzi did on the eve of the 2008 polls when he promised a Cabinet clean sweep if returned to power in a desperate attempt to be returned to government.  The trick worked back then and the PN was given a slim advantage to govern again, but it only served to postpone the problem with a revolution on the back bench that lasted five painful years.

While Simon Busuttil is surely growing in stature, he should make sure not to repeat the grievous mistakes made by his predecessors on the way up. He should start by making his intentions clear.