The Nationalist Party’s executive meeting will convene this evening, with embattled party leader Adrian Delia promising to take “concrete action” against MPs who refuse to work with him.
Delia has remained coy about his intentions with regard to these ‘rebel’ MPs, and we know that he cannot just kick them out of the party – in order to do so, he would need the support of the executive, and he does not, as clearly shown in last week’s confidence vote.
Quizzed several times by journalists, including by this media house, Delia insisted this is not about firing MPs. He simply argued that those MPs who refuse to pull the same rope will have to shoulder the responsibility.
Talk of dismissals has further enraged his opponents, and things were only made worse when the party issued a statement saying that disciplinary action would be taken against the party’s youth arm – the MZPN – for disobeying a directive issued by the Secretary General.
The issue revolves around an ‘unauthorised’ statement and video issued by the group on Facebook, which did not even have the blessing of the entire executive team. Francis Zammit Dimech, who had asked all party branches to refrain from commenting about the current situation, said he had no choice after the MZPN refused to take the statement down.
But this led to a wave of backlash against the party that often speaks about freedom of speech and that has consistently called on Labour MPs to “stand up and be counted” and to vote against their own government.
One can argue that the PN is a group with its own leadership, rules and regulations, and a directive cannot be disobeyed. But, at the same time, the party that prides itself for fighting against corruption and oppression in the 80s cannot try to censor its own people and ask them not to speak their mind.
Adrian Delia has often said that the party’s doors are open to people with different views and ideas, but those with different opinions are then being censored.
Clearly, this tactic is not working – in fact, it has strengthened the PN leader’s opponents’ resolve. The PN, once a beacon of democracy, is now being accused of adopting fascist tactics.
On the other hand, it seems that the directive issued by the secretary general does not apply to people like deputy leader Robert Arrigo, who engaged in an online feud with Therese Comodini Cachia, even publishing private correspondence she had sent to Delia to prove that she had “lied” on TV.
We are not saying that Arrigo was wrong in exposing what he feels were lies, but the rules have to apply to all, or to none.
It seems that the party leadership is digging itself into an even deeper hole – one which it will be unable to climb out of.
Surely, the way forward is not civil war and threats of disciplinary action. The only way forward is through dialogue and reconciliation, and through common-sense decisions that can bring the two warring factions together, fighting for the same cause.