This column had to be written before last night's Nationalist Party leadership electoral result was out, so it's not going to be about the outcome and it's not going to speculate about the outcome either, because that would be more than a little ridiculous. But I'm certainly going to talk about an extremely pressing issue that this election has put under a glaring spotlight: fitness of purpose of candidates and leadership contenders.

Putting any Tom, Dick or Harry on the party's electoral ticket is always going to be a bad idea, but the Nationalist Party made a little headway towards sorting the wheat from the chaff with some kind of advisory committee that is meant to scrutinise potential electoral candidates before allowing them onto the party ticket. Still, plenty of chaff gets through, though at least we can say that some kind of token effort is made. But then with the election which choose the party leader, who becomes either the Opposition leader or the Prime Minister, there is no scrutiny at all, even though the position is self-evidently more important than that of a mere member of parliament. It is a Constitutional role of national relevance. And there is no system by means of which the party ploughs through their past before their names are allowed through as contenders.

How irresponsible is that? This leadership election showed exactly how irresponsible it is. There were two contenders there who are manifestly unfit to even hold a seat in parliament let alone lead the party and take the oath as Opposition leader. Frank Portelli's problems were not concealed. On the contrary, they are on public record in a series of judgements against him, in cases brought by creditors, at the Courts of Justice. That the land on which his defunct hospital is built will generate enough revenue to pay his creditors if and when it is eventually sold is completely irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that he never paid them, that they had to take him to court to get a ruling, and that he still has not paid them despite that. The party's ethics committee seemed reassured that he has land which is worth more than the total of his bills. How on earth does that have anything to do with the price of eggs? The problem here is not that he has massive debts, but that he has reneged on them. The pertinent question which the ethics committee should have asked Dr Portelli is: "In that case, why haven't you sold your land to pay the people who are still waiting for the money you owe them?" Sitting on your assets while the people to whom you owe millions chase you in vain through the courts and by other means is tantamount to fraud. You're pretending you can't pay when the reality is that you won't pay, preferring to hang on to your assets instead.

Then there is Adrian Delia, about whom I have said so much already that I am sick of the sound of his name and I am quite sure you are too. But now I'll just say this. If a lawyer wishes to be licensed to carry out nominee or trustee services, the vetting carried out by the Malta Financial Services Authority is intense. They comb through everything. They even require the lawyer to authorise the Commission for the Administration of Justice - the body which addresses malpractice issues concerning lawyers, judges and magistrates - to release information about any complaints received against him or her. If there is such a complaint, even if it is clearly frivolous, the Malta Financial Services Authority will not consider the lawyer's application for a nominee licence until the Commission for the Administration of Justice has decided on the matter and given the all-clear.

But then if a lawyer wants to become leader of the Nationalist Party, all he needs is the signatures of a few paid-up party members to approve his nomination. This is insane. The system seems to rely on the party councillors and later the party members to scrutinise the candidates individually themselves and decide accordingly. It leaves it up to them. But this, as we have seen, is the height of irresponsibility. In a general election, and more so in a party leadership election, the candidates and contenders should stand before electors already thoroughly scrutinised, having passed through the Quality Control Department and stamped as safe for release to the market.

The new leader of the Nationalist Party needs to get that sorted immediately before further messes are made, but if the new leader is Delia, rest assured that it's not going to happen. He quite obviously does not believe in quality control.

 

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