During the election campaign, Simon Busuttil’s partner, Kristina Chetcuti, gave more than one interview about herself, her relationship with Busuttil and the Party. A common drift was that, in these four years, the Party has become modern, embraced sexual diversity and adopted the liberal course. In one particular interview, Chetcuti went on to recount her experience as a journalist reporting on the result of the 2013 election. She had been assigned to report outside the Nationalist headquarters. She stated that after the result became known, she found herself alone standing in the open space at the entrance to the Headquarters.

I remember the 2013 election well. I had been invited on Net to cover the election results and it was clear from the onset that the PN had lost. Back then, the whole Party setup was geared to prepare the supporters for the eventual defeat.  I remember leaving the NET TV station; the official result was not yet out but Labour supporters were gathering a few metres away.  Some Nationalist supporters came over to ask me whether the Party had won or not. I did not reply but my body language spoke for itself. After which many started leaving and hurried back home. I can fully understand Ms Chetcuti’s feelings. Experiences of a defeat remain with you.

Kristina Chetcuti did not stop at discussing the mood outside the PN Headquarters in 2013. She saw fit to pass a political comment by declaring that the Nationalists deserved such a defeat. The people wanted change, she retorted. Here are her exact comments to Lovin Malta: "I really believed the country needed a change and when the election result came out, which was overwhelming, I said, great, we finally have a chance for a government to make radical changes because it won’t be bothered about losing votes. I had hope."

Such a statement fits individual politogues who are in the field of political analysis. However, it is not worthy of the woman who aspired to become first lady. Perhaps, Kristina back then thought that she was still a journalist and not the partner of the Leader of the Opposition. One needs to remember that Busuttil was the Deputy Leader of the Nationalist Party in 2013. Her statement reflected the course on which the Nationalist Party had embarked from 2013 to date, which has led to its meltdown.

Worse to follow was the analysis of the situation. The 2013 Nationalist defeat was associated with the Party’s stand on divorce. This was and is still being reiterated by the Liberal minority in the Nationalist Party. Conveniently the Party accepted this theory without realizing the danger inherent in this misleading analysis. This is confirmed by the various interviews Chetcuti has given the media in this last electoral campaign. In brief, Chetcuti confirms that in the past four years, the Party embarked on its liberal course, which after the election result, we now know also meant the expulsion and exclusion of all Catholic elements within its fold and the promotion of candidates who have publicly declared that they are atheists, pouring hatred on Christianity and Catholicism. This has now been confirmed by Tonio Fenech. This atheistic outpouring of hatred is reminiscent of extremist Islamic war faring groups. 

In its search to appear liberal, the Nationalist Party ended up insulting and alienating its core voters.  During the 2013 election, I was one of those who campaigned forcefully for the re-election of Lawrence Gonzi as a prime minister. Unlike Chetcuti, I did not believe back then that the country needed to change direction. I strongly believed that Gonzi was a good PM and deserved to be re-elected.  The electorate made its choice. Each and every person has a right to his/her views and I respect the opinion and the decision of the majority.

For a future first lady, whose partner is Gonzi’s successor, to come out and state that there was a need for a change, is definitely offensive for all those who like me, campaigned in favour of Gonzi. Politely, Kristina Chetcuti was telling us that we were all wrong.  In that same interview Chetcuti continues stating that Joseph Muscat had betrayed the electorate!  On one hand, Kristina is stating that there was a need for change and we were wrong. Yet, simultaneously, she continues stating that Muscat was a deception and therefore our criticism of Muscat was justified. This only goes to show the confused state of the Nationalist mindset during these past four years. I am using this as an example to explain the utter state of upheaval this Party finds itself.  

The situation now becomes even more complicated. The electoral result is known to all. The electorate not only confirmed Joseph Muscat but increased its support for his Party. I do not know how Kristina Chetcuti or the rest of the PN are going to interpret this result? Is Chetcuti going to state that there was a need to change the Leader of the Nationalist Party, because she and her partner failed to enthuse the electorate? Inevitably, without the once held PN’s Christian ideals, more voters will flee to the Labour fold in the future as some have already done and tangibly already demonstrated  

While in 2013, one can state that the people wanted change because they were fed up with the Catholic and ultra-conservative Prime Minister, now the electorate has said No to a leader of a party who embraced liberalism, gay rights, and all the ‘blessings’ of the global modern world, while excluding and sidelining all Christian elements. Am I correct in interpreting this result as an indication that part of the Nationalist electorate is feeling orphaned? Am I right to state that during the past four years, the Party has been hijacked by a liberal clique that ended up destroying the PN?    

Simon Busuttil has been gentleman enough to realize that his time as leader of the PN is over.  He well knows that even if the entire party machine was behind him it is not really interested in having him reconfirmed as leader but it would be using him solely to maintain its power. Busuttil well knows that the situation today in the Nationalist Party is even worse than it was within Labour under Alfred Sant. At least, Sant did not manage to win an election after 1996 but from 1998 onwards, he succeeded in reducing the gap between both parties. Sant gave a myriad of excuses for his defeats, blaming the 1998 defeat on Mintoff and the 2003 on the EU. The PN are doing the same today. It is claiming that this defeat was caused by the power of the incumbent - a word that ironically was first used in Malta by Alfred Sant. After the defeat of 2003, Sant said he was going to leave the helm of the Party. Then, during the 1 May Labour demonstration in Valletta, placards appeared in what was supposedly a spontaneous demonstration exhorting him to remain.

In 2017, the time for spontaneous demonstration is over. Instead, we now have demonstrators being incited through the use of keyboard agitators.  At least, this time round Busuttil has bitten the bullet and shows that he is no longer prepared to serve as a pawn for those so-called liberals who only want him at the helm for their own personal gain.