Weeks of speculation about who would have the gumption, nerve and ambition to run for the Nationalist Party leadership were put to rest yesterday as the deadline for nominations elapsed.
As the contest takes shape over the coming weeks leading up to September’s election, some will merely look on out of a sense of morbid curiosity as the opposition struggles to regroup and reform in the wake of its rather spectacular fall from electoral grace for the second time running. Others, meanwhile, will be looking toward a new leadership with the hope that one of the candidates may hold the potential to change the pitiful electoral fortunes of the party they love.
But for the nation as a whole, there is more to it than that.
The governing Labour Party is riding a wave of popularity and its parliamentary numerical advantage is, as it was in the last legislature, practically unassailable. It has just won its second historic landslide victory, the numerous and persistent claims of corruption against some of its top brass have slipped off it like water off a duck’s back and the party is just sinking it teeth into another five years in power.
As such, and in fact under any circumstances, having as strong opposition is one of main underpinnings of having a strong democracy. Not only is a strong opposition able to challenge the government and keep it in check, but it is also collaborates with the government and provides essential input on the drafting of new laws and policies.
This is why it is so important that the right person is elected to the helm of the Nationalist Party.
And while much of the country will be spectators in the coming contest, there are those, the party’s paid-up members and its general council, who will be tasked with making the choice – a difficult one which will require a not insignificant amount of searching of the party’s soul.
It will not be so much a choice between individuals but a choice between what the party stands for – a choice between conservatism and liberalism or, for that matter, striking a delicate balance between the two.
It will also be a choice of approaches, one between enacting a radical overhaul of a party that has taken two successive brutal beatings at the electoral polls, or of picking up the pieces and soldiering on in the party’s current vein.
All candidates have pledged to do things differently but let’s face it, anyone pledging to do things the same would be in for a lost battle before even submitting their nomination. But whether their approaches on how, exactly, to do things differently will appeal to their electors is another matter altogether.
As matters stand, the four horses in the race carry somewhat different baggage.
The first to announce his leadership intentions was Adrian Delia, a respected lawyer who enters the race as a complete political outsider promising to shake the party tree from root to branch, pledging a bottom-up approach to reforming the party. His approach and freshness to the political scene may strike a chord with many, but his lack of experience may strike the wrong chord with others.
The next was Gozitan lawyer Chris Said, a long-time political activist who has been involved in the party since his teenage tears. As a current Member of Parliament and a former parliamentary secretary and minister, he knows the party and the party knows him, and as such many could consider him as a safe bet.
Outgoing party treasurer Alex Perici Calascione is a moderate who has been in and out of the party and is a person who is respected by many party members. Like Said, he could be considered as another safe bet but by some, but not radical enough in his approach to make a difference at the polls.
And yesterday at the 11th hour Frank Portelli – a former MP, party executive president, general council president and one-time European parliamentary candidate – threw his name into the hat. Known for his outspoken views and political punditry, Portelli could tick certain boxes in that he has not been involved in the party in its dark days of the last eight-odd years yet he nevertheless is experienced in the party given his former positions within its rank.
While the race appears to be wide open as matters currently stand, whoever the party chooses to address September’s Independence commemorations as its fledgling leader will certainly have his work cut out for him if the party is to begin making any headway in trimming the party’s significant, if not daunting, electoral deficit.