They say the true mettle of a leader can be seen in a time of crisis, and Libya is turning out to be Lawrence Gonzi’s test.

I have hesitated to criticize his performance so far because (despite the fact that I don’t agree with his politics) he is in an unenviable position. Who would want to be in his shoes at the moment? The pressures he must be facing from all quarters are mind-boggling. On the other hand, if you run for office and actively seek to be Prime Minister, then you obviously don’t mind pressure and actually want that huge responsibility on your shoulders.

Which is why it is almost baffling to see Gonzi practically crumbling under the stress of the last three weeks.

You could see it the first time he gave a press conference after the first week of the uprising: the strain showed in his sickly pallor, the way he stumbled over his words, the fact that his voice was tight with tension, and that he was having trouble making eye contact with the camera and the journalists present. As he shifted back and forth at the podium, his entire body language belied his discomfiture. Viewers watching it commented at the time that the Prime Minister looked positively terrified, but everyone made allowances for the fact that this was an extremely difficult moment for the man leading the country. In retrospect, however, it was the first clue that something was wrong.

The hastily put together Bondiplus the next day, transmitted from the grand surroundings of Castille should have been our next clue: it was a smooth PR exercise to portray Gonzi as being composed, in charge and in control. It was clearly an attempt at damage limitation that would normally have raised a lot of cynical eyebrows, but the very real prospect of Gaddafi unleashing his wrath against us had united the country like few events ever do.

Most people were feeling anxious until all Maltese ex-pats were brought back home, so they were willing to give Gonzi the benefit of the doubt – after all, it was important for the country to feel that the Prime Minister knew what he was doing at a crucial time like this. This was not a time for petty partisan politics or the scoring of points, but the time for a united front. It was interesting and significant that even traditional Labour supporters were praising Gonzi for his handling of the situation. Nationalist voters, naturally, were falling over themselves to praise the man they had voted for, and patting themselves on the back for the fact that it was Gonzi at the helm. This is understandable, after all, because in times of real crisis, people look to their leaders in the hope that they will rise to the occasion and display statesmanlike behaviour.

For a while, people were mesmerized and impressed by the humanitarian effort of getting out all the evacuees and dispatching them back to their respective countries.

The ousting of Gaddafi, however, is taking much longer than everyone originally thought. The West has moved slowly, too slowly some say, and this extreme caution has only led Gaddafi to smugly believe that he still has the upper hand.

The prolonged conflict has also meant that the tide has started to turn against Gonzi’s leadership and it is obvious that he, too, is keenly aware of this shift in public opinion. The press conference he gave last Friday was, if possible, even worse than his first one. His complexion was jaundice yellow and he seems to have shrunk in the last few weeks. I don’t say this to be mean, but it is clear that the physical and psychological strain has taken its toll.

I’m not going to presume to tell the Prime Minister what decisions he should be taking – I will leave that to all the other armchair critics – but it has to be pointed out that the first cracks in his leadership have not only appeared, but will probably deepen and widen.

Whatever pressures he is facing on an international scale are nothing to the damage his image has sustained on the domestic front.

When I watch Cameron and Obama speak to their respective nations, their delivery is sure, confident and poised. Their eye contact is unfaltering and their words are carefully chosen and measured. I have not seen any of this leadership behaviour when Lawrence Gonzi speaks, especially during the last few weeks.

One may not agree with the politics or decisions of the British Prime Minister and the American President, but there is no doubt that when they address their people, there is a sense of purpose and determination. A lot of it is rhetoric and political posturing of course, but it is not so much what they say, as to how they say it. Barack Obama’s voice, in particular, is very strong and the tone is on just the right side of forceful without sounding arrogant. It inspires confidence.

Gonzi, unfortunately for him, is coming across as weak – and no, not because he has not allowed Malta to become a military base. The gung-ho politics being advocated by some is not what makes you a strong leader. Gonzi seems weak simply because that is the image he is projecting. It’s almost as if he doesn’t even believe in his own words or the decisions his government has taken. Put bluntly, I looked at him on Friday on the podium and he just did not look like the leader of a nation. He seemed more like an anxious, worried little man who has to give us some bad news and is afraid of the repercussions.

It hasn’t helped his standing that we are not getting enough first-hand information either. We can only speculate about what has been happening behind the scenes whenever Malta’s name pops up in foreign media. Is the government being blackmailed over business interests? Are there deals being struck in the hope of appeasing Gaddafi? Shouldn’t we be the first to know? And which version are we to believe on the matter of that phone call from the Libyan Prime Minister? During the press conference Gonzi was tight-lipped about what was really discussed and yet there it was all over Sky news in the evening scrolling across our screens, “Malta, Turkey, China and Germany asked to be observers of the ceasefire”. The Maltese government has denied this statement and yet it is still being repeated on Sky as I write this on Saturday morning.

Whatever the decisions being taken in the backrooms of power, it is the Prime Minister’s role to convey a sense of decisiveness to the people and convince us that the decisions being taken are the right ones.

What we are seeing instead is Gonzi falling apart before our eyes.

[email protected]