Still reeling from the shock of its last electoral defeat, which is quite understandable considering the extent of the loss, the Nationalist Party now in Opposition is seeking to reform itself root and branch. With the election of a new leader last weekend, the party’s reform is gathering speed, for better or for worse.

Next comes the election of two deputy leaders, provided of course that at today’s extraordinary general council the party’s councillors approve an amendment to the party’s statute proposed by the freshly-elected leader Simon Busuttil to add another deputy leader to the party’s hierarchy – one for party affairs and another for parliamentary affairs.

But as we said last week with reference to the leadership contest, whoever is elected as the Opposition’s next deputy leader(s), that person will share the Herculean feat with the new leader in turning the party’s electoral, and financial, fortunes around.

The new PN leader is expected to be sworn in as the country’s next Opposition leader tomorrow, the same day that nominations for his deputies open. But whoever is elected to help run the party on 25 May, they will share an enormous responsibility – not only to their party but also to the country as a whole.

That is because it is vital that the country has a strong Opposition just as much as it needs a strong government. It is a symbiotic relationship and the beneficiary at the end of the day is the country and its citizens.  The government must be constantly, and intelligently, challenged and taken to task through constructive criticism. It must be held to account where it has gone wrong, and it is through a good Opposition that the best of a government can surface.

First and foremost, one of the qualities needed by those contesting the post, or posts, will be the capacity to help create the strongest Opposition possible and, in turn, the strongest government possible. That is what the country will need over the coming years to face the untold challenges still to come.

Power station transparency

It is highly encouraging to hear that no less than 19 proposals have been submitted by energy companies – including the likes of Shell, Edison and Gazprom – for the new gas-fuelled Delimara power station. 

This fact alones bodes well for the transparency of the process and should put to rest accusations that the Labour Party’s plans for a new power station had been geared toward one particular company or another.

It also puts to rest all the doubts cast on the party’s claims made during the election campaign that there was indeed a great deal of interest in the party’s proposals for the energy sector.

That the government is now making a distinct move toward the use of natural gas for the country’s electricity generation is tremendously good news, but the way it is proposing to fast-track the contract and planning processes process involved leaves a lot to be desired, and questioned.

For starters, there is the extremely thorny issue that the government does not intend to put the contract-awarding process through the Department of Contracts’ regular channels. The winning bid will be chosen, according to the government, on the basis of those expressions of interest received instead of the tried and tested, fully-fledged public procurement process.

The government has however confirmed that any bidder in disagreement with the final decision will be able to bring their issue before an ‘autonomous board’ that is to be set up or an appeals court.

It is also the government’s stated intention to fast-track the future planning permit process for the new-and-improved power plant at Delimara, without going through the proper channels at what still is the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The government has made it clear that the government could very well choose to circumvent standard planning processes and that at the end of the day it may be Cabinet itself, rather than Mepa, which may directly decide on the permit on the basis that the project is a national strategic development.

This is all in direct contrast to the way in which the Labour Party, when in Opposition, had, quite rightly, and at every fork in the road opposed permissions and cried foul over the contract for the current heavy fuel oil installation at Delimara.

As far as planning permission is concerned, there should be absolutely no divergence from the normal procedures. Whatever the case and whatever the stature of the contract’s eventual winner, the laws and procedures of the land cannot be circumvented to suit a party’s electoral pledge to have the new power station up and running by March 2015, which will be no mean feat by any stretch of the imagination.