When yesterday's election had not even been announced, I had written that it would be far better if the party reformed its structures before any election was held.
As we know, no notice was taken of that unsolicited piece of advice. Ma tarax.
We have now assisted at hara-kiri on a party level, something unheard of in decades of Maltese political history, on either side of the political divide.
I am writing at 5pm, that is much before the first poll for the new PN leader closes and the result is announced.
Calling an election for a party leader in an unreformed party was a dangerous strategic decision. It put the emphasis on the personalities involved rather than on the political choices facing the party. It is true that, for instance, Frank Portelli represents reaction, the Far Right approach, but so far, I am not aware that he has gathered around him those in the party with the same opinions. Dr Portelli represents himself, not anybody else.
The other three candidates and maybe Dr Portelli as well, try to present themselves as proposing something different from the route adopted by the party before the election. In different degrees, they criticize the Simon Busuttil leadership. Of course, no such criticism surfaced before 3rd June and some of the candidates appeared on the platform behind Dr Busuttil.
Now it's open season on all that. Suddenly we find out the party is heavily in debt. Now we find out the party is led by a 'clique' - only we are never told whom this clique consisted of, except Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Apart from this being a consistent Labour spin, it has now become a staple claim of many of the contenders' supporters, no one has come up with any proof that Daphne is the prime motor of the PN establishment or else working in close contact with the as yet secret prime mover of the establishment.
There has been much talk about the people who rallied around Adrian Delia outside the PN HQ at a crucial moment last week. Political parties are like that, once one cares to analyse them. They need people to assist at vote counting, people to organize mass meetings, people to work in the party media, and so on. And one must not forget the candidates' followers.
Whatever, one thing which struck me in the past days has been the anger exhibited by the rank and file at the second defeat and the virulence against the leadership they idolized just three months ago and the eagerness to swing to the candidate that best expressed their anger, that is, Dr Delia.
More than the other two candidates, Dr Delia expresses the anger many PN grass roots feel. I know some of the people who have been expressing themselves in various social media and I am totally surprised how quickly and how easily they swung round to condemn Dr Busuttil and/or Daphne.
Dr Delia has an easy way with words. I categorise him as one of those lawyers who can rouse themselves to make an impassioned speech before the judge on their own two feet. Words, arguments, facts tumble from their mouths and their speeches are often highly emotional.
The problem is Dr Delia has not, to my mind and certainly to the committee he was asked to meet, replied to the charges made initially by Daphne and later partly confirmed by MaltaToday. On the contrary, he first denied having an overseas bank account, and later, presented with faxes and other records, came round to admit he had. MaltaToday found that he and Minister Chris Cardona were involved with a house in Soho reportedly used for prostitution and raided by the police.
The background to all this included seedy Maltese characters involved in the London scene. This being Malta, many families would have one or more members involved in seedy business, here or elsewhere. We could see in this campaign that not even the last two candidates are free from taints - Perici Calascione has links to the Corinthia family group and Chris Said has brothers he could do without.
All this reinforces the impression, which I also reported in the past weeks, that no candidate is suitable. And this, I hold, reinforced the Delia hold that only a candidate not linked to the past - that is, himself - should be considered.
The party has messed up this election. Over the past weeks, it has become blindingly clear that the party's infrastructure is leaking badly, especially at lower and local levels. All these faults have not been tackled by those who should have known better.
At the same time, I also get the feeling that some of those who were responsible for this state of affairs have quickly got themselves taken on by the candidates, especially Dr Delia, in a bid to save their necks from the inevitable blood bath that's coming.
Writing while the polls are still open, it is impossible to predict the outcome. I hope I am wrong, but I fear the inevitable result of the poll will be the PN splitting up. People who are against Dr Delia will refuse to participate in a party led by him and vice versa, people who support Dr Delia will move out if he is not chosen. Appeals for party unity will fall on deaf ears, as they have indeed done over the past traumatic days.
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