The compiling of the shadow Cabinet may not be as important as that of the list of ministers and parliamentary secretaries that make up the government but, nonetheless, it carries its own particular significance.

Through it, the Opposition Leader distributes responsibilities to the MPs that make up his team in the House of Representatives. And, like the Prime Minister does on the other side, the Opposition Leader must balance party requirements, make electoral district considerations, and give weight to the people’s vote.

He must also use this prerogative to send a strong message to the elected MPs themselves, but also to the electorate in general.

It is not an easy task, and whatever an Opposition Leader does, there will always be criticism and observations, just like when the PM announces the Cabinet. Some MPs may not like what portfolio they are given, others would be expecting more but show gratitude to what they are given. Others wonder why they were not given any duties.

A few weeks after the election, and before he has been confirmed as Opposition Leader, Bernard Grech met his MPs and told them what he expects of them. We do not know if Grech discussed his choices with the MPs, or whether he presented them as a fait accompli. What we know is that he gave a role to 31 of his MPs, and left three of them out of the list.

 

Not yet confirmed

 

Some have argued that Grech should have waited until he is confirmed as leader before setting out to appoint his shadow Cabinet.

This would have made sense if Grech had opposition for the leadership post. In that case, if Grech had a rival or rivals for the PN top position, then, yes, Grech should have waited.

But it was clear right from the start that Grech was to be the only contender for the post. Immediately after the election result was announced, Grech said that he will be seeking to be confirmed as leader, and no-one else showed any interest in taking his place.

The formalities of his confirmation are still to be completed. Grech was the only candidate to submit his name for a due diligence exercise and, once this is completed, he will face the party’s general council to get the green light. He will need just 50 per cent plus one of the votes cast, but he will be certainly looking for a wider endorsement from the councillors.

Last week, Prime Minister Robert Abela netted 96% of the Labour delegates’ votes in a similar exercise. Only a result of more than 90% of the votes will be satisfying for Grech. Getting less than that would not be an ideal re-start for him as PN leader, given that the PN is still dealing with too many open wounds.

Since the election, he has already had to contend with the bitterness of Jason Azzopardi. The latter was not elected, arguing that this happened because he was “isolated”. Azzopardi has since resigned from the party, after he failed to substantiate claims he made about Grech, apparently after he (Azzopardi) was offended when Grech said that every politician’s journey has an “expiry date”.

Well, what Grech said was true and, after all, it was not Grech who determined Azzopardi’s expiry date – it was the voters.

But this incident indicates that Grech needs to have a strong backing from within.

Only a strong mandate from the councillors will solidify Grech’s status and give him the power he requires to take the party forward.

 

Top brass

 

The list of appointments of the shadow Cabinet emailed by the PN communications office puts the two deputy leaders at the top, even though one of them has announced he will not be seeking a re-election and the other is still to say what he will do.

Robert Arrigo has again been given responsibility of the tourism sector, while David Agius has been handed social and family policy and other related matters. Arrigo will no longer be deputy leader when the party completes its reorganisation.

It must be remembered that the PN will return to having just one deputy leader, a reversal of the two deputy leaders idea proposed and implemented by former leader Simon Busuttil in 2013.

It remains to be seen whether Agius will contest to retain the position. There seems to be a current that favours a change, with Joe Giglio being mentioned as a possible contender.

Giglio was given what is considered as one of the most important portfolios, that of home affairs, security and reform, with justice going to Karol Aquilina.

Robert Cutajar has retained the role of party whip, and will be assisted by Paula Mifsud Bonnici.

Other top portfolios were shared between old-timers and newcomers, with Ryan Callus named responsible for public works and infrastructure and Stephen Spiteri holding on to health, while Mark Anthony Sammut took over the energy and enterprise portfolio, Justin Schembri was given education and Jerome Caruana Cilia was handed finance.

 

Adrian Delia

 

Former leader Adrian Delia was also given a super portfolio by Grech.

Delia was ousted by Grech in a leadership election spearheaded by a group of rebel MPs in the last legislature. But, whereas many of the members of this anti-Delia faction either did not contest, barely made it or were not elected (with Azzopardi one of the latter, hence his bitterness), Adrian Delia won a seat in Parliament with flying colours.

Actually, he made it from two districts, and had to cede one.

Grech could not ignore this factor when compiling his list, and he assigned Delia to transport, roads and capital projects. It is one of the most important portfolios of the lot. It was also a way to appease Delia’s supporters, upset as they were after the internal strife brought about his downfall. It was a way to bring the so-called Delia faction closer to the Grech leadership.

Delia’s performance in the election, which was his first, showed that he has a great following. Grech had no other option but to take it into account.

 

Those left out

Three veteran MPs were left out of the shadow Cabinet – Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, Mario de Marco and Chris Said, all of whom had formed part of the last Nationalist Party government, were not given a specific sector to follow.

Like it is the PM’s prerogative to leave elected MPs out of his Cabinet, the Opposition Leader is entitled to make his own choices.

By opting to leave them out, Grech signalled that he wants a fresh start. The Gonzi government was mightily rejected in the 2013 election, and the PN has been succumbing to one defeat after another since then. Many view these repeated debacles as taking place because the PN has not been able to regenerate itself in the past decade; Grech’s decision to leave them out is an indication that there is no looking back any more. The idea is to move forward, because it only in this way that the PN could aim to eat into Labour’s advantage.

Nationalist voters themselves have shown the way, as they picked the newer candidates with their preferences in the last election. Yes, politicians do have an expiry date too, and those who are rejected by the voters would do well to accept the result with humility and leave in a dignified way.

It is probably this kind of prima donna attitude that keeps someone like Roberta Metsola from accepting a role in the party leadership each time she is approached. It’s hard to see her trade her position with one in the PN, where she will have to deal with infantile tantrums.

With regard to the three who were left out of the shadow Cabinet, it must be pointed out that their personal result in the election was not something that politicians of their experience should be proud of.

De Marco was the second of the two PN candidates to be elected on the first district, losing out to a new candidate; Said obtained fewer than half of the number one votes won by a PN newcomer on the Gozo district and made it to Parliament without reaching the district quota; while Mifsud Bonnici was only elected via a casual election after Janice Chetcuti’s weird decision not to contest the casual election as she was sure the gender-corrective mechanism would have given her a seat. These are all signs that their political career is in decline.

Some have interpreted this as Grech shunning the Gonzi government. Another way of seeing this is that Grech has realised – as much as the voters did – that unless the party is able to renew itself, it cannot make itself electable again.