The manoeuvres of this week's radical reshuffle of the Opposition's Shadow Cabinet came as a surprise to many, with Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil having thoroughly reshaped the echelons of the party's parliamentary group with the introduction of two members of European Parliament to the Shadow Cabinet and the 'demotion' of a number of former Nationalist ministers.

But according to Dr Busuttil, who was interviewed by this newspaper yesterday, we ain't seen nothing yet.

"With these changes, I want to take things a notch higher," Dr Busuttil said yesterday. "If people think that we already have an effective Opposition, my message to them is that this is just the beginning."

As for the removal of three former ministers from the Shadow Cabinet, Dr Busuttil strongly denies their removal had anything to do with them having been tainted by accusations and allegations of wrongdoing by the government.  In fact, he stands foursquare behind George Pullicino, Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Tonio Fenech - all of whom have had allegations of wrongdoing levelled against them by the Labour Party in government.

He explains, "They have absolutely not become liabilities.  In fact, I acknowledge and recognise the huge contribution that people like Tonio, George and Carm gave to the party and, if not more so, to the country.

"The accusations were not proved in any manner whatsoever. But this is beside the point.  It is not about having left them out of the Shadow Cabinet. It is about the fact that in politics, a time comes when one has to take a step back, at least for a while, so that other, newer faces can take a step forward.

"The time will come for everyone, including myself, to do this. But at this point in time, yes, I have asked 10 different people to take a step forward.

"This is not about accusations or bloodletting, this is a positive move about regenerating the party.

By the same token, this is not about Simon Busuttil.  This is about a process that our party has to go through and my interest is to ensure that the party is turned, first of all, into a more effective Opposition and in the short and medium term, into an effective and credible government."

As for those accusations - in which George Pullicino had been accused of impropriety in a government contract and Carm Mifsud Bonnici had been accused of ordering that no action be taken against those involved in the death of an irregular migrant - Dr Busuttil says, "I expect the people who made those accusations to prove those accusations.  It is not for me to prove that an accusation against me is false. All I need to do is deny it and say that it is completely false and deceitful. 

"It is for the people who have made such accusations, the Prime Minister and his ministers, to prove their allegations. And guess what? They have been unable to prove them because there is no substance to them."

Reshuffle 'the next logical step'

According to Dr Busuttil, this week's reshuffle was the next logical step in the process of the renewal and regeneration of the Nationalist Party and of the Opposition.

He explains, "Look at it from this point of view: if a political party does not regenerate and renew itself when it is in opposition, when can it do so?

"It is very clear to us that people expect us to renew and regenerate, and that is exactly what we did this week. That is precisely the main message I want to convey: that the Nationalist Party has heard and understood very well the message of the people, given to it in March 2013 and it has embarked on a process of renewal, which is now at its next stage.

"This is not the end of this process, this is the next step in our process of renewal."

Asked why he conducted a reshuffle now, near the middle of the legislature, instead of toward its end, Dr Busuttil comments, "Nothing can be excluded at any moment, but what is clear at this particular point in time is that I wanted to send this message: that the Nationalist Party is renewing and it will also do all that it takes to ensure that we present a strong and formidable opposition to this government, and a strong and formidable alternative to this government in three years' time."

The reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet introduced new faces to the top of the PN's parliamentary group, some of whom are relatively new faces to politics.

"In politics, if you are going to respond to the need for renewal it is very evident that you are going to ask people who have not had much previous experience to take a step forward," Dr Busuttil comments.

"That explains why the new Shadow Cabinet is composed of people who are entirely new, with the exception of three people who have had ministerial experience of just one year. This means that the current ministers of the Labour government, now two years in office, have had a longer ministerial record than these three people: Chris Said, Mario de Marco and Jason Azzopardi.

"As for the rest of the Shadow Cabinet, they are completely new and therefore it is clear that the Nationalist Party is once again a party that is regenerating itself and that is presenting a new party and a new alternative to the people."

More than a change of faces

But, according to Dr Busuttil, there is more to the reshuffle than a mere change of faces. As he explains, "I have often spoken about a new style of doing politics and this is another example of that.  The innovation in this is that I have created a new setup that is composed of clusters of responsibilities - 10 different clusters with each shadow minister responsible for a small group of MPs working in sectors as spokespersons for specific areas within that shadow ministry.

"This means that I am involving everyone - all Nationalist Party MPs are going to be involved in this, including our MEPs. As such, I expect more cohesion and more focus within the parliamentary group, but clearly, this is a new way forward because it enables people to work together.

So far from being divisive, this decision is actually uniting the group by creating 10 groupings of people working together and this also clearly puts a great deal of responsibility on the shadow ministers to make sure this works.

"And I made this amply clear to them on Friday, in the first meeting of the Shadow Cabinet, when I told them in no uncertain terms that I expect from them the highest standards of behaviour and the highest standards of performance in terms of achievement."

Dr Busuttil was asked, since he says that the new Shadow Cabinet has been designed to be more effective, whether the last Shadow Cabinet was not as effective as he would have wished.

"It is clear that the need for renewal is tied to the idea of effectiveness. So my answer is a definite 'Yes' Dr Busuttil replied.

Dr Busuttil was also asked whether the fact that he created a role for each and every member of the parliamentary group was a matter of placating everyone or one of creating a united front.

"This was not about getting rid of people," he replied.  "This is about the interest of the party and the interest of the party is to take this step. This is not about identifying individuals or bloodletting. This is about moving the party forward. Therefore, I gave something to everyone in order to give everyone an opportunity to continue working and indeed, also to give people who are most affected by the reshuffle the opportunity to reinvent themselves. That is because they have significant experience that I want to continue utilising and my message to them is that they now have the opportunity to reinvent themselves.

"I wish to point to one thing: I did not chop heads off during an election campaign, like Joseph Muscat did with Anglu Farrugia, giving him absolutely no chance to reinvent himself. I am giving everyone, not just the shadow ministers, the opportunity to prove themselves and for those who have been left out of the shadow cabinet, to reinvent themselves and they have the opportunity to do so for a full three years before the general election.

MEPs in the fold

The introduction of MEPs to the fold is a novel concept, but how would they be able to hold the government to account while at the same time serving their roles in Brussels and Strasburg?

Dr Busuttil explains, "First of all, any idea that this is not envisaged in the Constitution is completely wrong because the Constitution only refers to the Leader of the Opposition and to no one else on the Opposition side, which means I have full latitude and flexibility to use all the members of my parliamentary group to the full.

"The three MEPs elected for the Nationalist Party, according to our statute, are members of our parliamentary group. This might have been news to some, but the truth is that in our parliamentary group, we have members who are MPs elected to the national parliament as well as the MEPs who are elected to the European Parliament.

"Now why should I not use the resources of three brilliant people I have who are elected to the EP?"

"One of them is the head of the delegation, David Casa, who is already occupied as the delegation leader, but then I have another two - Therese Comodini Cachia and Roberta Metsola - and I am using them in exactly the same area that they are focussing on in Brussels. In Roberta's case, European Affairs and by definition the role of an MEP is European affairs, and on Therese's part, she is in the EP's Education Committee. 

"So all I am doing is using their experience and knowledge for the service for their own constituencies here in Malta. After all, aren't MEPs serving the Maltese? Well, here is the opportunity for these MEPs who are, incidentally, full time politicians, to be more available for their constituencies here in Malta as well."

He also vehemently denies that the appointment of the two MEPs belies a lack of talent among Nationalist MPs from which he could choose for the Shadow Cabinet.

He stresses, "This is absolutely not the case. I think it is abundantly clear that the people who are outside the Shadow Cabinet have their own experience and their own talents. I would also like to make it clear that no one has a guarantee of being in my future Cabinet of government. 

"People will have to work for and earn their place in the Cabinet of a future PN government. But at this particular point in time, I have mustered this team as our frontliners. It is a formidable team with a significant wow factor when you look at the people involved.

 "Allow me to add that there is also a mix, not just in terms of competence and experience, but also in terms of the appointment of new women in the Shadow Cabinet. This is a first in which we have a Shadow Cabinet where there is an equal number of men and women."

The fact that MPs with track records in certain areas have been replaced by political newcomers has also been questioned since Thursday's announcement of the new Cabinet, Marthese Portelli being a case in point.

Dr Busuttil begs to differ, explaining, "First of all, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Marthese will rise to this occasion and that she will prove her competence to lead the areas of environment, energy and transport, which are indeed very technical and vast areas. She will, however, be assisted by a group of MPs and in her case, it is quite a big group that brings together a number of people with a great deal of experience and knowledge in these areas. I expect Marthese to get this group to deliver results and if that does not happen, then I will have absolutely no hesitation in changing the shadow minister and bringing in someone different."

Echoes of Gonzi's 2008 reshuffle?

This week's reshuffle brings back memories of his predecessor Lawrence Gonzi's reshuffle in 2008, in which a number of ministers had been demoted. But according to Dr Busuttil, the scenarios are completely different and what did not work for Dr Gonzi will work for him.

He explains, "I think that this scenario is completely different, just as much as the scenario is completely different from when Joseph Muscat was himself Leader of the Opposition.  May I remind you that when Joseph Muscat became Leader of the Opposition, for five years he failed to make any changes whatsoever, and he failed to present a frontline Shadow Cabinet. He gave a responsibility to each of his MPs, which is fine as far as that goes, but that meant keeping people who were ministers since the years of Mintoff.

"So not even did Joseph Muscat - at a time when he was Leader of the Opposition and Prime Minister in waiting, because everyone knew that the Labour Party was heading to a probable electoral victory - have the courage to make real and effective change.

"There is another difference. The Labour Party had been in opposition for the best part of 25 years and I believe it had been in opposition for 25 years precisely because it had not seized the occasion to change. It postponed change for 25 years, until it became inevitable, on a national level, to change the PN in government. By then, it was no longer necessary to change the party because people had lost their collective memory of the ministers who had been there since the times of Mintoff. 

"This is not my scenario. In my scenario, I could either sit pretty and wait for 25 years, which is absolutely not me, or else I get down to business. I chose to get down to business and effect the change that people expect from the Nationalist Party today and this was the time to do it."

 

First tasks to be delegated tomorrow

And work for the new Shadow Cabinet will begin practically immediately, with Dr Busuttil planning a press conference tomorrow in which he will announce three clear targets for three of his Shadow Ministers.

He elaborates, "I will ask them to embark immediately on working on these tasks and achieve the targets that I will give them. So the way that I will work with this Shadow Cabinet will be in a very results-oriented fashion. I will not tell you today what those three areas are, but the point I would like to make here and now is that I want to show that the Opposition is relevant to the public, even when in opposition.

"And we will achieve results for the people, even in opposition, and by the time of the next general election, people will make this consideration: if the Opposition was useful for me in opposition, how much more useful can it be for me when in government?"

Dr Busuttil, on assuming the helm of the Nationalist Party, had the aim of working with the government on certain issues and to contribute in an effective way, has this happened?

"Indeed," he explains, "my idea of opposition is to agree with what I should agree with and oppose what I do not agree with, this is the normal course of things. There have been many areas in which we have voted and cooperated with the government. The presidency is one, the EU Commissioner is another, the numerous laws that we voted in favour of with the government is another example. In fact, we voted in favour of some 90 per cent of the laws enacted in these first two years of the Labour government, showing that we are willing to cooperate when we agree with something. 

"Why should I disagree with something when I actually agree with it? But likewise, by the same token, I must be equally clear and forceful in opposing something that I disagree with, just like I disagreed with the law whereby the Prime Minister is now able to appoint his own backbenchers as chairmen of public bodies. The prime Minister went as far as to change a law that previously did not allow him to do so, simply to appease his own backbenchers - that is how weak the PM is when it comes to the crux of the matter. Therefore, when I need to oppose like I did in that case, or in the case of Malliagate, we will oppose and be a more formidable Opposition.

"With these changes, I want to take things one notch higher.  If people think that we already have an effective Opposition, my message to them is that this is just the beginning."