A number of political commentators have observed how social media and people making strong, emotional and public declarations on Facebook has certainly changed the nature of party elections.
University lecturer in public policy Dr George Vital Zammit goes so far as to say that because people have a very public platform to make strong declarations considering the public nature of platforms such as Facebook, party members will find it challenging to work together after a new leader is elected.
Former editor of Mument and Nazzjon Victor Camilleri describes how social media has allowed for a more aggressive tone to take hold.
On the other hand, Professor Henry Frendo, a well established historian, speaks of how people have quite a short memory and goes on to cite many of the highly contentious leadership races from both sides of the political divide.
The Malta Independent made contact with these three seasoned political commentators in order to get gauge the biggest challenges before the new PN leader, mainly uniting the party, who they see as being the next leader and why.
PN councillors last Saturday narrowed down the four contestants to two, Adrian Delia (1st place) and Chris Said. Paid-up members will now cast their vote on Saturday 16 September.
The Malta Independent spoke with a three political experts in their own field and asked them to reply to three questions regarding the PN leadership race. We spoke with Victor Camilleri, former Nazzjon and Mument editor, historian Henry Frendo and with George Vidal Zammit, a University Lecturer in Public Policy.
This newsroom asked the following questions:
1 - Will the new PN leader manage to unite the party?
2 - Do you compare this leadership to other inter-party elections in the past?
3 - Who do you think should be the new Nationalist Party Leader?
Victor Camilleri (former editor of Il-Mument)
Q1Whatever happens and whoever the new elected leader is, the Nationalist Party will always manage to unite and become even stronger than before this election. Having 99% of the eligible voters going out to vote, it means that the party is still going strong and that people care. Whoever wins, the party will unite. The party is bigger that the candidates hoping to lead it. I believe the PN will manage to find its feet after this difficult period.
Q2 Looking at the competitiveness observed in this PN leadership race, I would say it is a case of history repeating itself. This election is no different from any other internal party elections in the past. This one, however, is getting a bit out of hand.
Social media is a completely new element in such elections and is making things more aggressive. Things did get a little too competitive, I must say. In fact, from what I can remember, this is the most contested election the PN ever experienced.
To be fair, in the past we had some wildly competitive contests. I was editor when Eddie Fenech Adami and Guido de Marco had to face off each other. It was also very aggressive. I understand there are currents coming your way from all ends and I understand some currents can be very powerful. But we have to keep in mind it is a competition after all. To compete, you need to convince the voters by showing what better things you can offer that the other side cannot.
From what I recall, the 2008 Labour Party leadership race was no different. The contenders were literally at war, some claiming that the party machine was in favour of Joseph Muscat. This was a claim made by all of the other contenders. George Abela, Marie-Louise ColeiroPreca, Evarist Bartolo and Michael Falzon had all said this publicly. It was a contest of one contender against the other four. Muscat, as we all know, emerged victorious.
Q3 First I have to make a very clear premise. Ever since the days of George Borg Olivier, the new party leader would imitate his predecessor. Lawrence Gonzi imitated Eddie Fenech Adami, Simon Busuttil tried to be like Gonzi. It goes on and on. For quite some time, this was a winning formula for the PN. But for some reason, it seems that this trend stopped with the latest PN leader Simon Busuttil. The model, of copying your predecessor has clearly failed with Simon Busuttil. This is why I believe the party needs a new way.We cannot have a leader who copies the one before him and that is why I would reckon Adrian Delia would be the best option.
Prof Henry Frendo (historian)
Q1 The historical tendency has been that the party unites around the leader. Once there is a new leader I suspect that every effort will be made for members to rally behind the new leader. Of course it depends on who the new leader is because in this case you have an unknown who has never worked within the party and expects to be able to lead a party he has never been involved with. Somebody who has known the party inside out will, I suspect, find it easier to reconcile differences.
Q2 I don’t think it is totally different from others. In the case of [former PL PM and current PL MEP] Alfred Sant it was also very tenuous. The way in which he became leader, when he was contested by Lino Spiteri, there was a whole story about an anonymous letter received trying to damage him and so on. We must not forget that Spiteri then lost in the second round of voting. There was the other issue of Alfred Sant resigning. If you take a look at the previous PN leadership races, in 1977 during Fenech Adami’s time he was contested very strongly by Guido de Marco and Censu Tabone.
The most serious leadership problem was after Fortunato Mizzi’s death [founder of the Anti-Reform Party which was the forerunner of the PN]
People have a short memory, when they are in the fray they get very excited and very emotional.
Q3 I am not entitled to vote in this election, so I am seeing this from an outside perspective. From what I hear and see, I think Chris Said probably has a better chance of winning the majority of votes from paid up-members. This Delia character is a new phenomenon and untested, Chris Said is tested, the youngest candidate and has been in every possible constitutional position throughout his career.
George Vital Zammit – Lecturer at the University of Malta in Public Policy
Q1 It is going to be difficult because, what is probably unprecedented in terms of previous leadership elections is the massive outpour, or utilisation, of social networking.
When I say people, this does not exclude MPs and people from the higher echelons of the party. From the way things are transpiring, there are quite a few who will have difficulty working with whoever is elected. There have been heavy statements made on both sides.
Whoever the winner is, it will be a huge challenge to first unite the Parliamentary group and then the party.
The Parliamentary group is very important because it is where you are channelling the energy of the Opposition. That’s where you need to have a credible force in our House of Representatives because it’s in the interest of the nation.
The next phase is uniting the party, which cannot happen without a united Parliamentary group. The way our system works is quite top down in nature, obviously the support of people and various communities around the island is still important. First, there must be a united parliamentary group, and then there must be a strong executive, with this then trickling down to the rest of the party.
This big challenge will take time. The PN will need quite a few months to consolidate. It will probably have to put aside its main role and get its house in order first.
I cannot predict that the new leader will definitely succeed at least in the short term. There are a number of hurts that need to be mended.
Right now the most important thing is the party itself. If social networking is a reflection of society, then things are not looking very healthy.
Q2 Every leadership succession goes through a number of similar traits and patterns. Every succession has factions, you have people within the party that would rally behind one leader or the other. It is normal and is not different to previous leadership races.
Leadership races are all subject to factions. What is unprecedented is that within the same party, the amount of quarrelling and airing dirty laundry for everyone to see is quite unprecedented, I think.
In an article I penned I made reference to [former PM] Eddie Fenech Adami’s leadership, at that time there was quite a coup against Gorg Borg Olivier. There was no social media at the time but the principle of loyalty was much stronger.
What is different is the grudge that is coming out against outgoing leader Simon Busuttil, the previous leadership and party members. It is a family feud. The tone, the language, all this is unprecedented.
This is what I see from the outside. We must keep in mind that today there are tools that were unavailable before. In the past people used to air grievances within a party platform. Now you go online and you post for all to see. The factions and alliances are normal, so let us not get paranoid.
Q3 I had difficulty in interpreting the last election results. It was not easy, it was very unusual. The big numbers are so huge that we are not used to winning or losing with such differences. When you have such a result the implication is that you need to change. Obviously the idea that somebody will carry the torch of change is very appealing. That should not be at the cost of certain values and principles such as integrity, honesty, good governance and transparency. These in a way were the pillars of Busuttil’s tenure as leader of the Opposition. He might be subject to criticism, after all he carried a massive defeat, but he was consistent with those values.
A break with the past should not be at the cost of values, we welcome change, but certain things should not change. There should not be change for the sake of change.