No one can deny anymore that the rot has definitely set in in the corridors of power.
Not only has the Prime Minister lost control of his parliamentary group, he has now also lost his parliamentary group's majority in Parliament; he will now have to rely on the ambivalent support of an independent MP in a coalition fraught with dangers, as well as face the unpredictability of one to two government MPs, and he also has to deal with the total meltdown of the Nationalist Party.
Although the latest political developments impact negatively on the governance of the country and do no good at all to the economy and to the confidence of investors, I must confess that watching my direct political opponents in a frenzy of self-demolition gives me great pleasure. At 32, way back in 1998, I must have been one of the youngest ministers for a long time. It was a hellish baptism of fire as the Labour government had to deal with its own spate of internal strife that eventually led to an early general election and the downfall of Alfred Sant's government.
The Nationalist opposition, then led by an opportunistic Eddie Fenech Adami, watched as we disintegrated in the eyes of the electorate by courtesy of the public outbursts of high profile Labour Party dissenters, while the Nationalist Party media had a whale of a time ridiculing the beleaguered Alfred Sant who was crudely compared to one of the Patron Saints of Qormi, St Sebastian, who is commonly depicted in art and religious literature tied to a tree and shot with arrows.
Doubtlessly what is happening now inside the Nationalist Party is, from my point of view, pure poetic justice. You cannot blame me, can you? Instead of Alfred Sant, tied to a tree and shot with arrows, now we have no one else but the Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi himself, leader of the Nationalist Party. Yes indeed, 14 years down the road the situation has completely reversed with JPO, Franco Debono and Jesmond Mugliett calling the shots at the expense of a Prime Minister who cannot exercise authority single-handedly anymore.
As far as legislation is concerned Dr Gonzi will need to consult the no-holds-barred, now independent MP JPO to ensure its safe passage through Parliament. But Dr Gonzi will also have to keep an eye on the unpredictability of Franco Debono who, although still a government MP, cares little if at all about his party's whip and has already acted like an independent within his own party. The Prime Minister's unfettered discretion now only lies in his authority to call an election at whatever time he deems fit. It is clear that neither JPO nor Debono can influence when he blows the whistle, unless of course they both vote against the government on a money bill, the most prolific of which is the Budget, thus killing off the Speaker's casting vote in the process, in which case Dr Gonzi will have totally lost the plot.
This is a moribund political party which has overstreched its natural life in order to accommodate various societal interests that see Labour as their nemesis. With 'Sebastian Gonzi' checkmated by his own ilk the end is now very near. Political history has shown that the electorate does not like voting into power a dis-united party. The Nationalist Party is not only divided, but the longer it holds on to power the faster it is crumbling.
Dr Gulia is the Opposition’s Main Spokesman for Tourism and Air Malta