The election for the new PN leader is run by an Electoral Commission, which, we were assured, conducted a thorough examination before they were admitted as candidates.

Now, midway through the long campaign, while Malta swelters under an unprecedented heat, two out of four have fallen foul of public opinion. One we already knew about – Frank Portelli’s St Philip’s Hospital has long been known as being down and out. He tried to sell it to Gonzi’s government, was rebuffed, and then joined Labour in badmouthing the PN hoping Labour would buy it off him. That didn’t happen, and Portelli is back trying to become the PN leader.

How the Electoral Commission let that pass is a mystery.

Now we have a second case. Adrian Delia, who was somehow being portrayed as a front-runner, had been repeatedly asked to disclose his assets and liabilities (as fellow contender Chris Said did, transposing his declaration as an MP) but he repeatedly said he would do so only after being elected PN leader.

He never really explained why, but now, in the light of the latest disclosures, this is now looking rather suspect.

What has now come to light, thanks to Daphne Caruana Galizia, is that Dr Delia has a 9% shareholding in a company which obtained a bank loan of €9 million and which seems to have stopped paying back when it still owed €7 million. The bank thus recently enforced a declaration of debt on the company and this seems to have been done when Dr Delia was already a candidate. The refusal to disclose assets and liabilities now looks rather suspect.

Once outed, Dr Delia came up with a series of claims: that his 9% share of the company means he owes just one million, that the company which is building flats instead of the Mgarr Hotel in Gozo, once it sells them will have more than enough to pay back the loan (plus interest). But it can also be argued that Dr Delia, owes the bank €9 million in solidum with the rest of the shareholders and can thus be held liable by the bank for the total sum. 

It is Dr Delia’s reputation that has been damaged by this affair, especially within the context of the PN leader campaign. He is already facing an uphill campaign as a complete outsider, with just party membership to his name and no militancy at any level in the party. His refusal to disclose his liabilities is a serious political blunder and does not sit right with the party’s ongoing battle for transparency in public affairs. He cannot say he is a private person – he gave that up when he declared his candidacy.

He has also shown that he has not understood that the behaviour expected from people in public posts is very different from that expected from people in private business (or as past presidents of a football club). He has also shown an inability to face a crisis, as any politician faces, and come out of it smelling of roses. For a party that has been battling a government that forgot to understand this difference, it is a colossal blunder.

One cannot say that a ‘resignation culture’ flourishes in the Opposition party, or else we would have had one or maybe two resignations. At this time of writing, the two flawed candidates still give all the signs of continuing with their campaign.

And even if these two resign, I really cannot say the remaining two fire up the enthusiasm of the PN’s base. So the election will have two flawed candidates and the other two. Will the choice be made in default?

These are personal matters, some might say, but in politics, personal matters overshadow policy issues. It matters little what Dr Portelli is saying about migration, once the public got to know that his personal affairs are not in line. Nor can Dr Delia be credible when he says he wants to inaugurate a new policy inside the party and in the country when it was revealed that he is just another property developer with a bank loan, which is the worst possible outcome in the circumstances.

Neither Simon Busuttil nor indeed Joseph Muscat came to power with that kind of baggage and nor did Lawrence Gonzi. Public opinion was not merciful to the first and the third, which goes to show that being the leader of a party is no walk in the park.

Those who can’t stand the heat should get out of the kitchen.

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