It is not a coincidence, and neither is it a surprise, that Simon Busuttil and Jason Azzopardi embarrassed their own political party with their behaviour in Parliament and outside these past few days. Ever since the PN lost with the biggest electoral margin in history, under Busuttil’s leadership, the two have been among the more apparent dissenters of the new PN leadership, before it took office and even more so afterwards.
Last Monday, Busuttil was forced to amend the declaration he made in Parliament about Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, withdrawing his earlier statement that the prime minister had launched an inquiry into allegations about his connections with Egrant, a company opened in Panama, only after he (the PM) had made sure that all the evidence had disappeared. Busuttil later altered his speech to avoid further sanctions.
Later, it was Azzopardi’s turn to cause uproar with a tweet in which he accused a minister of having connections with the criminal underworld, which was ruled by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to have been a breach of privilege. Azzopardi did not mention the name, but it was a clear reference to Minister Chris Cardona.
In this case, Azzopardi has chosen to persist in his position, saying that he will appeal and invoking the right to freedom of expression. Ironically, this week Azzopardi criticised a report by this media house on Cardona, by saying that it was “fabricated” and this simply because our story went against the narrative that has been created elsewhere against the same minister.
We have often criticised Speaker Anglu Farrugia for his apparent gatekeeping on issues that could harm the government, but in both these cases we believe that he took the right decision.
These two instances and other situations have contributed to the escalating division in the Nationalist Party, with Delia almost isolated in spite of his efforts to unite his group. It was sad to see the Opposition leader on his own laying a wreath at the foot of the makeshift memorial to Daphne Caruana Galizia a year after her assassination. Yet it must have taken a lot of courage on his part to make that move.
Some suggested that he should have perhaps taken it a step further and attended the vigil in the evening, but he chose to stay away because he knows that Daphne’s followers do not want him there. Many of them still refer to him with the same brutal nickname that was pinned on him by the journalist before her assassination.
Delia is so unwelcome in these circles that somebody even took the trouble of pushing the wreath he had placed at the monument to the side, removing the label with the words “Leader of the Opposition” and covering the wreath with the slain journalist’s last words.
It is a direct message to Delia to stay away. This action has not been condemned by the organisers, which is tantamount to their endorsing it or at least not showing any respect to what Delia did. The thing is, Busuttil and Azzopardi are always at the forefront of this kind of events, and this completes the circle.
Other PN MPs and officials, who are seen as Delia’s allies, rose above the discord there is between Daphne’s followers and their leader and attended the event. This goes to their credit.
Delia has a mountain to climb in his bid to lift the party he leads out of its current predicament. But with so many enemies within his own party, he needs a miracle.