Simon Busuttil has become the seventh Nationalist Party leader.

He was the winner of what has been described as a race among friends, given the level of mutual respect that was shown in the run-up to the election.

His victory, however, does not mean that the other three contestants have lost – far from it. And I say this especially for seasoned politicians Francis Zammit Dimech and Mario de Marco, who came out of the race with flying colours, and probably stronger – politically-speaking – than they were before they threw their hats into the ring.

With the way they handled the outcome of the first round of voting that took place yesterday week, both Francis and Mario showed great loyalty to the party. Realising that they could not make it, they pulled out of the race immediately rather than going the whole way and prolonging a process that would have seen Simon emerging as the winner anyway.

Simon has a tough battle ahead of him. He must reorganise the party structures from scratch, he must resolve its financial difficulties and – most of all – he has to enable it to regain the trust and confidence of the electorate.

He cannot do this on his own, and he has already recognised this by saying that he will be appointing various commissions that will see to the different needs that he himself has highlighted as being a priority at this point in time: a review of policies, the search for new candidates and the tackling of the party’s commercial situation.

That he has also publicly stated that he will take on the proposals made by the three other contenders and make them his own is also a sign that he will not be discarding their contribution towards the party’s regeneration.

His shake-up has already started, as today the party’s general council will vote on a proposal made by the new leader to have two deputy leaders instead of one.

I reserve my full judgment on this for later, while also waiting to see who will be submitting a nomination for the two posts that will be created.

Until then, I will just say this: when the news broke on Thursday, I could not help but think of what the PN was saying before the last election. Both Lawrence Gonzi and Simon Busuttil repeatedly slammed the Labour Party for becoming a clone of the PN. They constantly said that people should go for the “real thing” (PN) and not the photocopy (PL). They also remarked that the PL had eliminated red and gone for the blue, including the ties that Joseph Muscat was wearing.

With the election of two deputy leaders instead of one and the probable appointment of a CEO to run the PN’s commercial entities, I just wonder now who is copying whom.

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I am sure that history will be kinder to Lawrence Gonzi than the present is being.

As Prime Minister, he led the country well in its first years as a member of the European Union and, later, in the tumultuous waters that hit across Europe. While countries around us succumbed to the financial hurricanes that led to bail-outs, high unemployment and general discontent, here in Malta we were left almost untouched. Dr Gonzi took difficult decisions, some of which were unpopular, but they ultimately saved the country the embarrassment of having to go begging for help on its knees.

As Nationalist Party leader, he had to contend with people who were addicted to self-promotion and had a lust for publicity rather than the overall good. Sections of the media – some can be described as pro-Labour, others simply as anti-Gonzi – were hell-bent on trying to destroy him. Only he, and maybe his affable wife Kate, know what he had to go through.

There were times when I did not agree with him, and said so publicly, such as on the divorce and honoraria issues. But I never once doubted his integrity.

I had the privilege of interviewing him many times – on radio, TV, in PN clubs, during Independence celebrations and, the last time, in his office at party headquarters. I always ended the interview thinking that the harder the questions with which I had confronted him, the better were the answers he had given me.

Like many politicians, Dr Gonzi was not appreciated to the extent that he should have been at the height of his political career, but I am sure that posterity will put him alongside other great statesmen.

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I had two thoughts when Sir Alex Ferguson announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season.

The first was that football will miss him. Love him or hate him, he had a career that will be impossible to match. I cannot see anyone else staying on for so long with just one club, building team after team, and achieving so much success. Manchester United’s dominance of English football in the past 27 years has been absolute.

If anything, considering the great club he led, one would have expected Sir Alex to have won more in Europe. Two Champions League wins is too little: with all the talent at his disposal, he should have taken Manchester United to greater glory at international level. In the same period of time – and here please allow me to brag – the team I support, Milan, was crowned European champions five times.

But, before I am publicly lynched, let me say there is no doubt that Sir Alex’s legacy is unbeatable.

The second observation is more tongue-in-cheek. We all remember that Sir Alex endorsed the Labour Party and Joseph Muscat during the last election campaign. Well, all those who publicly expressed their support before the 9 March election have been rewarded for their efforts with some appointment or another after Labour’s victory.

So it was easy to come to the conclusion that Sir Alex might have announced his retirement because he has been offered a post at Castille and, being of high ethical standards, he did not want to keep his old job too.

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