There is more than meets the eye to the unconfirmed report that PN Crown Prince Simon Busuttil will be running on the district from which I have been elected so far

This is the same district in which Lawrence Gonzi had presented himself as a ‘saving grace’ in 2008 when the tide was turning badly against the Nationalist Party in a traditional Nationalist stronghold. There has been an important sea change since then.

While Gonzi had helped them contain the erosion of votes that I had detected very strongly during home visits leading up to the 2008 elections, this time round a Gonzi candidature on the same district would have proved to be an instant recipe for disaster for GonziPN since he is ‘detested’ politically by most disillusioned Nationalists that I tend to come across.

The Nationalist Party will still be making two serious miscalculations.

Even if the Busuttil candidature might prove to be an embarrassment for other Nationalist MPs who have been endearing themselves with the RCC clan in the hope of a bounce back should the PN manage to regain power next time round, the majority of the people I meet want a change in government rather than a mere change in lead candidate on their district.

This apart, with or without Simon Busuttil the PN seems most likely predestined to run the next elections with Gonzi at the helm of the party, bar any last-minute surprises. Even though he acted on impulse in a near hysterical manner to squash any rumours that he might be stepping down should his party get re-elected in the forthcoming elections.

While I will continue to respect him on a personal level and as a parliamentary colleague – without indulging in the personalised attacks that the poisoned hacks that he condones specialise in – I must admit that the man knows no shame, particularly when last Sunday he had the gall to claim that our congress had been intended to disrupt the Independence festivities.

He was quoted as having said: “Labour was trying to alienate the people from festivities that celebrate the birth of the country.”

Nothing can be further from the truth.

Gonzi should be responsible enough to realise that there is a yawning gap between the partisan activities that his party held and the national celebrations of Independence Day on which the PL by design refrained from organising any political events whatsoever except for a two-hour fun run that harmed no one.

Apart from the fact that the PL congress and the PN festivities on the Granaries targeted different crowds and audiences, what must have irked Gonzi most was the fact that while he thought that our congress would prove to be a mere PR exercise it managed on the contrary to bring out the sharp contrast between a PL in deep listening mode and an ever more hysterical PN reaching new heights of political paranoia.

If anyone debased our national day, it was Gonzi himself who used the festivities to repeatedly attack Joseph Muscat and his front bench, while occasionally leaving similar tasks to his ineffective and figurehead general secretary.

The only message that he had conveyed on a day that should have instilled bridge building and consensus was the fuelling of further division and partisan talk.

While Joseph Muscat had gone out of his way to show deep maturity by insisting that all national feasts should be treated equally and others like yours truly commented even on Twitter about Independence Day, Republic Day and Freedom Day being bound together by the same umbilical cord, he disregarded any possibilities of reconciliation by singling out Independence Day as the national day that should stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Although I am not one to rely on opinion polls as a comfort zone, it was intriguing to note that a poll conducted on Sunday by a newspaper which even Austin Gatt tends to hold their polls in high regard – judging by a public statement he once made – it is now evident that the over reaction by GonziPN to the minimum wage saga has proved to be counter-productive, generating as it did a political boomerang effect.

Equally reassuring for the PL is the fact that although a number of undecided voters seem to have made their minds up about their voting intentions, the PL continues to enjoy a more than decent lead, something which not even monthly Notte Biancas between now and the elections will manage to neutralise. I am saying so without in any way rubbishing the Notte Bianca project which is a positive event even if it remains a mystery why this year it was held earlier than usual.

If you ask me, the hysteria about the minimum wage saga was fomented primarily to deflect attention from the serious discussions and strong debates that were held at Ta’ Qali on such key subjects as economic growth, energy issues, environmental health, education, and civil liberties. Subjects which were hardly touched upon during the pre-set, rigged and partisan speeches and interventions made on the Granaries.

Although by the time of writing I will not have yet known the outcome of the House Business Committee which was set to convene yesterday at lunch time, judging by practically ALL the local newspapers – obviously except for the official PN organ itself, they all seemed to suggest editorially as well as in other commentaries that a bleak future lies ahead of this government as it clings on to power for power’s sake.

To cite a few examples:

• Some predicted that Franco Debono will be presenting his motion of no confidence in Health Minister Joe Cassar later this week (unless he might have done so already by the time we go to print).

• He confirmed that he will be backing the PL-promoted motion to block the privatisation of the car parks which rightly or wrongly tends to hardly leave much doubt as to who the net beneficiaries might be.

• Another independent newspaper hinted that JPO could be insisting on pushing his own agenda in the said Committee while possibly leaving the door ajar for radical amendments that might be virtually impossible for the PN Parliamentary Group to take on board.

• I have been informed that we also had Debono’s blog ‘threats’ that Gonzi must either decide on a pre-Budget election or a pre-Xmas one.

• It-Torċa claimed that when Parliament opens it will surely not be business as usual.

• Your sister newspaper stated editorially that Parliament will be resuming under a dark cloud, with storms having gathered since last December.

• On the other hand, Illum stated editorially that if Gonzi really thinks that it is business as usual at his end, then he should not hesitate in calling a vote of confidence in the House.

• While on the other hand, The Sunday Times ended its editorial of two days ago by declaring that the opening of Parliament is surrounded by uncertainty and questions over how the government backbench is going to behave; with the bigger question re-emerging as to how quickly will an election be called to put an end to the charades.

• Sooner rather than later hopefully... These are their words not mine or ours!

But for Gonzi it all seems to be water off a duck’s back as his party organ claims as it did on Sunday – Poplu Ferħan… Pajjiż Trankwill…. Just because the crowds might have turned up for Notte Bianca!

All this proves that Dr Gonzi not only remains isolated in denial. But also that he urgently needs a political bailout to survive….