On the very same day when a leading Sunday newspaper appealed to government to stop taking the country for a ride while posing the ticklish question as to how long can the government realistically go on operating in such an unstable manner, up popped the Prime Minister with a ridiculous suggestion that led us to two clear conclusions
The first is that he intends to do his best to see the pantomime continue rather than bringing it to an end. And, secondly, that he would like to dupe us all into believing that the by now long elusive parliamentary majority can be found in the mock travesty of a secret vote at Dar Ċentrali.
No wonder The Sunday Times editorial concluded that ”The clock can only tick for so long before the bomb explodes”. Obviously in purely figurative terms.
The more the Prime Minister talks about safeguarding the national interest, the more he makes us realise that his and his campaign strategists’ sole objective is to try and do their utmost to spare themselves of an electoral humiliation that will no doubt then inevitably open the floodgates for a leadership race between the de Marcos, Fenech Adamis and Simon Busuttils of the Nationalist Party. Three ambitious personalities who cannot afford to burn their fingers at this stage when a possible electoral defeat could be looming on the horizon.
Rather than trying to find a workable solution as to how to provide the much needed political stability, as predicted, last Sunday’s cosmetic exercise at Dar Ċentrali was merely intended to play another charade-like game.
That of trying to give the impression that at day’s end Gonzi would assert his leadership while emphasising the importance of stability in the current international economic climate.
That Gonzi at the suggestion of his RCC-Joe Saliba-Austin Gatt campaign strategists will do his utmost through various bids to avert an early bill has long been a given.
But if Nationalist strategists have been arguing among themselves that trying to appease Franco Debono could be a dangerous game, it is an even more dangerous game for the Prime Minister to manipulate or else allow himself to be manipulated by trying to create a false aura of national security and stability; when in actual fact regardless of the leadership vote outcome it is evident that his long lost parliamentary majority will remain something to be sought and fought for on practically a daily basis.
The only thing that has emerged clearly from last Sunday’s panto is that a March general election seems to have all been but ruled out.
If last Thursday’s vote left us with what many consider to be an inconclusive result since government has effectively lost its governing majority in the House, Sunday’s tactical move by the Prime Minister at Dar Ċentrali was even more vacuous and inconclusive.
Even worse, it was deceptive and misleading.
The PM is trying to give the impression that the PN leadership was now up for grabs, when the result is as predictable as a Mubarak era presidential race in Egypt.
Debono’s abstention might have presented the government with a temporary lifeline, but it definitely left his colleagues wondering how long it will all last.
I will not go into the cynical interpretations about the motives behind Dr Debono’s abstention – mainly that by abstaining he may still hope to push some of his ideas and aspirations by staying in the limelight.
But even a number of Nationalist MPs were somewhat sceptical about what could truly emerge in the wake of last Sunday’s so-called extraordinary general council of the PN.
Charlò Bonnici had predicted that he was not expecting anything new to emerge. How right he was!
On the other hand Dr de Marco, long tipped as a likely successor to Gonzi, claimed that regarding the general council he believed that we need to do a lot of soul searching; that we need to consolidate and project ourselves for the future and that we also need to reach out more effectively. None of these noble and even practical aspirations were to be found in Gonzi’s uninspiring triumphalistic speech or else in his pseudo-Macchiavellian way forward.
According to another independent Sunday newspaper sources close to Dr Debono claimed that his decision to abstain was not the result of a deal struck with the government, but a move to put the ball back in the Prime Minister’s court.
If that is indeed the case, then regardless of the mock leadership contest coming up shortly, Dr Gonzi remains in the same fix as he was in since last week.
Dr Gonzi has unfortunately been out of sync on far too many occasions.
The most glaring of which was the manner in which he repeatedly tried to bury his head in the sand over the divorce issue.
As well as his hollow claims that it is not true that the country is in an election mode, at a time when all other political forces and analysts on the island claim that we have long been. Regardless of when elections will be held.
It is not for me to judge or predict whether the gap between the rebel MP who Lino Spiteri labelled “a catalyst for change” and the Prime Minister can be or is likely to be bridged.
There is only one certainty. That from what the PM said and proposed on Sunday it is evident that so far we are still a bridge too far.
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Leo Brincat is the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development & Climate Change