It is now clear that one decision has already been taken by the Nationalist Party – and this is that its new secretary general will not be one of its MPs.
The vote will be taken in the coming weeks, after the party’s general council convenes this weekend to elect its 18 representatives on the executive committee, which will in turn elect party officials, including the new secretary general.
Chris Said will be relinquishing this post to concentrate on Gozo, as leader Simon Busuttil told him to do, seeing that he is the only elected MP from that district who will contest the coming election.
With the announcement today, made public through The Malta Independent, that David Agius will not be contesting for the post, the PN has made up its mind that it wants a secretary general who does not have the responsibilities of an MP.
For the second time, David Agius has selflessly withdrawn from the contest. Two years ago, he had expressed an interest in the post after the election of Simon Busuttil as leader, but ended up not contesting for similar reasons to those we have today – that the party leader, in spite of showing full confidence in Mr Agius’ capabilities, made a different choice. There is no greater loyalty than giving up one’s personal ambitions for the good of the party. David Agius is certainly a great example of this.
Dr Busuttil has valid reasons for not wanting an MP to fill up the post. The duties and responsibilities of a secretary general are too extensive to be hindered by other obligations. The PN’s losses in Gozo in the last local council elections can be explained, in part, because of Chris Said’s constant presence in Malta to manage the PN. Replacing him by another MP could potentially lead to losses in the electoral district contested by that MP who is also a general secretary.
One of the arguments against the appointment of a non-MP for the post of secretary general is that, when the Nationalist Party was in opposition in the past decades, it always had a secretary general who was an MP, as it also did in the last two years in opposition with Chris Said. Another argument against this idea is made by people who believe that the secretary general must be someone with a huge political background, as well as the acumen to deal with political situations as they develop.
But this shift to a non-MP as secretary general while the party is in opposition falls within the overall changing dynamics of the Nationalist Party. The decision, taken two years ago, to have two deputy leaders, one of them for party affairs, does not make it necessary for the party to have a “politician” as secretary general. The deputy leader for party affairs can deal with that.
What is needed from the secretary general is a person who has excellent organisation skills, be firm in taking decisions without fear or favour and does not have personal interests that might cloud his or her judgment.
This person must be totally loyal to the party leader, serve as a link between him and the various sections of the party, and be a unifying factor.
He or she must be a good listener, and a good talker too, as one must first get to know all the facets of a given situation and then be able to express the reasons behind the final decision that is taken.
It is a pivotal role and, with less than three years for the election, the PN cannot afford to choose the wrong person.