The assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia has shifted attention from the budget to this heinous murder. I would have expected that such an assassination would have united the Nationalist Parliamentary Group but this is not so. A sense of unity was given when Dr Adrian Delia replied to the Prime Minister’s speech. Dr Delia focused his speech on the murder of the journalist. I am told that pressure was put on Delia to give the speech that he made in Parliament.
Next we had the national protest and we discovered that this rediscovered unity had already been lost. It is now very clear that there are individuals within the party who were not happy with this sense of recovered unity and used every occasion that came along to destroy it. Whether willfully or not, the national protest served their purpose.
If anything, this protest march made it clear that Dr Adrian Delia does not have the full support of his parliamentary group and that there are too many cooks in the Nationalist Party. The fact that he had to pull out clearly indicates that he lacks support. On the other hand, a number of individuals within the PN availed themselves of this protest march to reassert their drive to enforce their liberal ideology on the PN. This only goes to show that the rift within the PN is getting even deeper. It is clear that Dr Delia is being left alone deliberately. Perhaps this is also good news. If a politician is left alone, he can assert his position with greater ease.
But there was another piece of news which was virtually ignored by media. Two weeks before Daphne’s assassination, Dr Joseph Muscat gave a very important speech at the Labour Party Club in Ħal Għaxaq. In this speech, Dr Muscat spoke of the possible political scenario for the future. I fully agree with his line of thinking. He emphasized that the two main political parties are moving in two opposite directions. He outlined that Labour is going to become more and more liberal while the PN has now embarked on the conservative trail.
Possibly, many in Malta are still being enticed by the aura of the word ‘liberal’. The assassination of Daphne may have also further perpetrated this false ideal that now means some sort of political progressiveness which both parties have made an attempt to embrace. It also became synonymous with political and sexual freedom.
In truth, being a liberal has a different meaning, though where the economy is concerned, there is no doubt that Dr Muscat is being driven by this ideology. The term ‘liberal’ in politics is the antithesis of Socialism and socialist belief. In Europe, those Leftist parties that followed this route are experiencing a loss in votes. In Malta, the opposite is happening. The Malta Labour Party did not suffer for its liberal policies for the simple reason that it found a weak PN.
The behaviour of some of the PN’s MPs confirms this. Moreover, the PN played the liberal card with disastrous results and certain factions are seeking to use it now after Daphne’s assassination. Therefore, if the PN starts learning how to play its cards right, this ‘liberal’ position can become Labour’s Achilles’ heel. Instead, liberalism today is the PN’s biggest problem.
By embracing liberalism, Conservative parties lost ground in Europe. When the PN held the Congress of European Popular Parties, all party leaders wished those heading towards a general election, victory at the polls. The only leader who did not receive any best wishes was Dr Simon Busuttil. At least in public, none of the European leaders of the Popular Party wished him success in the elections as they did with Angela Merkel.
I am convinced that they did not proffer such wishes because they realized that the local PN was not going to make it at the polls. They knew that the PN’s liberal positions were going to cost the party the coming election. And they were right. Instead of having a Nationalist Party cornering Labour on its liberal agenda, as happened to the Socialists in Spain, we had a party that did diametrically the opposite, with disastrous consequences making it even more difficult for it to become once again relevant on the local political front.
Indeed, Dr Muscat was the sole Socialist party leader who was successful in his liberal policies where other Socialists parties had failed. I don’t think that this success was due to the fact that these policies are correct. This success results from the fact that the PN was divided within its fold.
Daphne’s death is exposing how disorganised and internally divided the PN is. Divided political parties can never achieve electoral victory. Having factions within a party is even worse. Dr Muscat’s success was in bringing about unity within his party. More importantly, he eliminated the previous factions. He used the carrot and the stick tactic and certain positions and jobs which have been given to the ‘boys’ are clearly the result of this type of policy.
Today, the PN’s Liberal front is divided into more than one faction, with each faction seeking and competing against each other for attention. The Liberal side wrongly thought that by bringing in the gender agenda, it was going to unite this front and in the process, it would be able to consolidate its internal power. But the adherents of these different fronts struggled to work together. Pride led important political personalities of this front not to accept orders. Worse they did not focus on internal coordination. Perhaps, the assassination of Daphne is being used by this front to rally the troops.
On the other hand, the conservative front in the PN was and still is more compact. But it lacked a real leader. Having no leader, this front may have lacked charisma with the media.
In this atmosphere of total confusion, it is even more important for Dr Adrian Delia to slowly but swiftly move to affirm himself within the party. It has now become extremely urgent and he needs to show that he is the one and clear leader of the PN.
Dr Delia definitely possesses charisma and this is making him popular with party members, in particular those of the South, who had been abandoned by the party because they were being labelled by Daphne as ‘ħamalli’.
Daphne’s supporters within the PN want to push an image of Delia as a weak leader; one who lacks control over his party. And it is here where Dr Delia needs to choose his ground carefully. By behaving in the way they acted with regard to Sunday’s protest in Valletta, the Liberal faction has sent a clear message that Dr Delia is unwanted – despite being elected democratically - and their leader is still Dr Simon Busuttil.
Like in any military battle, the party leader has to be a true military commander. But no battle can be won by the PN, as now this party has two political leaders. If Dr Delia wants to win, he needs to position his men and women wisely. Therefore, now it is the time to forget about past promises. He should step forth to the fore and start inspiring by not being afraid to take decisions. Already, he has lost a golden opportunity by not roping in Dr Chris Said as part of his leadership team. He now risks that even his own people start leaving him alone.
If Dr Delia wants to achieve his political goals, he needs to show one and all that the party delegates and paid members made the right decision when they elected him leader of the Nationalist Party. To achieve this, he needs to set up a proper leadership structure. Unfortunately, he has already failed his first test. The message should be that he is putting in place the right base for an electoral victory. It is only by creating the correct structure that he can convince the electorate that the Nationalist Party is going to rob Labour of what may be perceived as its third consecutive electoral triumph.
History teaches that good leaders create their own good luck.