The four PN leadership contenders have diverging views over the Nationalist Party’s decision not to commission an electoral defeat report. While Alex Perici Calascione and Adrian Delia believe there is the need for such a study into the election campaign and results, Frank Portelli and Chris Said feel that the reasons for the staggering defeat are already known.

In comments to The Malta Independent, Adrian Delia clearly stated that every organisation needs to take stock of the situation and conduct an independent post-mortem following a setback in its core operation. He warned however, that it would be futile to conduct a detailed analysis and shelve it without giving it proper recognition.

“Having read the executive summary of the 2013 report, I realised that very few of the recommendations made to the party were actually taken on board. Having said that, I understand that the PN was recovering from a massive electoral defeat and was trying to adjust to the new reality in opposition.”

Delia said that such an analysis needs to be to the point and pragmatic. “Once we identify what is still relevant in findings of the 2013 report we can add to it the new dynamics resulting from the 2017 defeat,” he concluded.

Alex Perici Calascione wants to have an open assessment of the election campaign. “Whilst I am against having the structures of the Party bogged down for months on end with a ‘Rapport tat-Telfa’ process, I am of the opinion that the road forward should start with a frank and open assessment of the run up to the electoral campaign and of the campaign itself together with a focused drive of awareness of the realities, expectations and aspirations of Maltese and Gozitans today.”

Perici Calascione and Delia’s comments differ from what the other two contenders have to say over the matter.

Frank Portelli believes that the mistakes which led to another landslide Labour Party victory are known. “I agree with not repeating the same mistakes, of bringing change for the good of the party.” Pressed on whether he agrees with the need for a report, he said that the mistakes are known and that the most important thing is that past mistakes are not repeated.

Similarly, Chris Said argued that what the party needs is not a report on the election defeat, but an analysis of society in Malta. Said, did in fact, pledge that if elected leader he will commission a detailed sociological report. “I have already said this in my press conferences that if I am elected leader, I will immediately commission a socio-economical report on Maltese families so we can clearly understand society around us. This is the kind of report we need.” He believes that such report is more important than an analysis of the result. “The reasons why the PN lost are known,” he concluded.

On Monday, the Malta Independent revealed that the Nationalist Party will not be commissioning a report into the landslide general election loss. This was confirmed by a PN spokesperson.

The Labour Party won the general election with a margin of 35,280 votes over the Nationalist Party, which was slightly larger than that obtained four years ago, when the win was obtained with a 35,107 margin.

In 2013, the party appointed a special commission to analyse the election defeat.  That report found that public perception of a clique running the party, arrogance, the lack of decisions taken in Parliament, the inefficiency of Mepa, the failure of the public service reform, the way the party tackled the divorce issue, irregular migration issues, the lack of use of independent media, hunting problems and the Valletta City Gate project all contributed to the party’s defeat.

One of the authors of the report, Simon Mercieca, told The Malta Independent that it was conducted in a transparent manner, free from any form of interference, but believed that a majority of the recommendations were ignored, particularly with regards to reform of the administration. It was for this reason that he believed that the PN were reluctant to commission a report.