Newly elected Nationalist Party MEP Francis Zammit Dimech thinks that the PN coalition with PartitDemokratiku was based on an ill-founded assumption that the party would gain enough votes to narrow the gap or even win the last general election.
In an interview with The Malta Independent, which was carried out before Saturday's election for party leader, Zammit Dimech said that he was one of those who believed the coalition would help the party gain some new votes.
“I was one of those who had better hopes for the election results, with or without the coalition,” he said. “But we have to keep in mind that at the time, the Nationalist Party had reason to believe that the result could have been a very close one. Now, with hindsight we now know that the decision was based on an ill-founded assumption.”
Zammit Dimech, who is headed to the European Parliament to replace Therese Comodini Cachia, said that he would be willing to work under any new leader in the Nationalist Party after the election if over on the 17 September. He said he trusts the team leading the ethics committee and insisted that this challenging period for the PN might be turned into a good opportunity.
The MEP has already declared his intention to contest in the 2019 MEP elections and is positive that the PN has enough time to gain the necessary momentum for this uphill struggle and keep the three MEP seats. “This will also be one of the first challenges for the new PN leader,” he adds.
You’ll soon head off to Brussels. Do you intend to follow on Therese Comodini Cachia’s footsteps?
Yes, I intend to carry on exactly where Therese Comodini Cachia left off. She was a member of the Legal Affairs and Cultural Affairs Committee and I want to carry on in her footsteps. I want to thank her for her sterling work.
Was it your decision to contest or was it the PN leader who asked you to contest?
It was a natural step. I had already made the decision to stand for MEP in 2014 so I was eligible to take part in these by-elections. It is not something I was planning for. But the way the situation evolved and the moment Therese Comodini Cachia stood for the national parliament, it followed that a by-election would take place. I decided to run and inform the party leadership of my intention.
What challenges do you predict now as MEP?
I am used to give this level of commitments politically. It will also have a huge impact on my personal life. Being an MEP means I have to commute a lot. I want to serve as bridge between the people of Malta and the EU institutions, particularly with regards to cultural affairs since this is a subject close to heart.
An MEP is a representative of the people. The European Parliament is another parliament for Maltese people.
On a European level, there are multiple challenges faced by the European Parliament. On my third week in office, on 11 September, I will be formally declared as MEP, but it is also the week when Juncker will address the State of the Union. He will expand on the roles of the EU. It is a challenging time for Europe. With rise of populist forces, Brexit and because of the dilemma between those who want to be more European and those who want to detach from it further. I will humbly follow this debate and try contribute towards it. My political career in Malta has prepared me well, especially when I was minister for foreign affairs.
You have already said you intend to run in the 2019 MEP elections. Why did you take this commitment so soon?
For me this is the opening of a new chapter, it is not a form of closure. This is a short two year term and to be able to be of proper service, I think I have to present yet again my services in June 2019. We’ll follow from there.
Let’s switch to something more local. There are four contenders for the PN leadership race. Who’s your favourite?
I have a formed opinion but I will refrain from publicly endorsing any candidate. I want the process to carry on and would like to see the party councillors making the best decision for the party. It is a difficult time for the party, but challenging times can be turned into opportunities. Whoever is chosen on 16 September, we need to look ahead and move in a direction renewal, and make the party what it really is. We represent 140,000 people and the country needs the PN as an Opposition or alternative government.
Do you believe that the party had to carry out the necessary due diligence before opening its doors for the candidates?
Due diligence is a very lengthy and delicate process. I would like to believe that the party did this already. From my experience as a lawyer, no diligence process is ever complete. New factors can come forward all the time. What I think is happening at this stage is that there are new allegations coming forward and the party does well to take them seriously.
There is one particular candidate who is facing very serious allegations. Do you believe them?
The administrative council of the PN has commissioned a very competent Ethic Committee led by Louis Galea, a person of highest calibre. I am confident that they will carry out a proper analysis. I hope that the committee will allow for the candidates to be heard. We need to have a decision before voting day. (By the time this interview went to print, the Ethics Committee had already made the report public).
Do you believe that this party election process is led, yet again, by a blogger?
Whether it is being led by any blogger will ultimately be determined by how the PN council votes. We are living a new political reality in Malta and internationally. We need to be aware of it. I myself, as a politician, have to factor in social media, spins and how the public reacts. These have a determining impact on the PN leadership race and on the political scene in general. Communication methods are always changing too, and this has to be taken into serious consideration. Politics is first and for most, about communication.
We have to take this across the board. When we mention bloggers let’s not forget that the government employs a blogger out of our people’s money. He discerns out so-called information round the clock and who actually operates from within the office of the Prime Minister.
You have been contesting with the Nationalist Party since the 1980s, always on the tenth district. This last election, Marlene Farrugia came along and decided to run in your district. Were you happy with how this evolved?
We are all wise enough after the event. When the Nationalist Party decided to make a coalition with PartitDemokratiku, it had reason to believe that the result could have been a very close one. That is why we wanted to make a coalition with those with similar views to ours, which was our battle cry against corruption. The PN wanted to create a stand against corruption, a stand for good governance. As you are aware, PN also wanted to have AlternattivaDemokratika on board. We carried this decision on the assumption that this coalition would help bridge the huge gap between the two parties. After the general election we now know that the assumption was ill-founded.
The PN now knows that it did not need such a coalition. It actually weakened our strength in parliament.
Are you sorry about this?
I was one of those people who had better hopes for the election result, even if I was not necessarily convinced we were going to win the election, I did believe we could narrow the gap.
With the coalition?
Well, on our own, but with the help of a coalition. I personally wanted anything which could have made us stronger in terms of getting a larger amount of votes. Now I realise the strategy did not work.
Judging the current state of the party now and the latest electoral defeat, are you positive that the PN can keep the three seats in the European Parliament?
It is certainly a big challenge and we need to have our feet on the ground. Having said that, 2019 is more than a year and a half away and we need to use this time to gain the necessarymomentum. The MEP election will be a major challenge for the new leader and the PN. We are reminded from former political era, that a week is a long time in politics. I think nowadays even a day is a long time in politics.
You have been round the block. Will this 2019 election be your last step in politics or you are only getting started?
Who knows! You’re only young as the way you feel. As long as the battery level indicators are still right, I intend to remain active in the political field. I am not the kind of politician who thinks in terms of retirement unless the public takes that decision for me. And thank God the energy indicators are even higher than before.