It is often said that history repeats itself. Within the Nationalist Party, this is certainly the case.

Last Sunday, Dr. Kevin Cassar, a failed PN election candidate and a hugely divisive political commentator, lashed out at PN MP Alex Borg, accusing him of being 'Labour's trojan horse'.

Borg took offence and chided the failed politician Cassar on Facebook. He was joined by his fellow MPs Adrian Delia and Joe Giglio, they too, having been the subject of relentless attacks from the failed politician Kevin Cassar in his weekly newspaper columns. 

PN activists too hit out at the failed politician Cassar, whilst Cassar's 'fans' pushed back, defending him and justifying his attack on Borg. The failed politician Cassar's 'fans' are mostly members and followers of Repubblika, an NGO that has Labour as its primary target, deep hatred at anything Labour as its bread and butter and holds sway over the Nationalist Party.

To put things into perspective, Alex Borg apparently went on holiday on the day that important votes in Parliament were to be taken. One of those votes concerned a motion, presented by the Labour Party Parliamentary Group, condemning PN MP Karol Aquilina aggressive behaviour, in Parliament, against the Speaker Dr Anglu Farrugia

Parliament also voted on the much-needed magisterial inquiries reform spearheaded by the government. That same evening, Repubblika called a protest in front of Parliament crying foul over the magisterial inquiries reform. It was a poorly attended gathering - a disaster - with the small crowd in attendance banging on cooking pots, their chosen way of protesting.

It was a mess. The poor showing, despite the aggressive marketing campaign by Repubblika and its acolytes in the press, irked and embarrassed the organizers, and feeding on vitriol as they are, they hit out at PN MPs that failed to show up.

Alex Borg, apparently vacationing in Eastern Europe (he told us through a Facebook post), was one of them. It seems that the PN's extremist faction saw red, and out came the failed politician Kevin Cassar, a relative of the influential Fenech Adami clan within the PN, lashing out, mercilessly, against the Gozitan PN MP.

The failed politician Kevin Cassar called Alex Borg 'Labour's trojan horse'. Now, we have heard this before. When the relatively unknown Adrian Delia tried his luck at the PN leadership election, shortly after Simon Busuttil called quits, following a humiliating defeat at the 2017 general election, the conservative forces within the PN, led by the extremist faction within it, launched a relentless campaign against Dr Delia accusing him of being 'Labour's trojan horse'.

The cruel and vile campaign against Adrian Delia eventually led to his dismissal from party leader within two years from his election to the post. Warts and all, Delia was never one to stoop low and attack personally his political 'rivals'. 

I have had countless heated exchanges with Dr. Delia and at one point he was also my shadow Minister, but it was never personal. 

This clearly does not amuse the extremist faction within his party who expect their political representatives to be the likes of Karol Aquilina, a hugely divisive member of parliament, or his best friend Jason Azzopardi, the fellow failed PN politician who still holds sway over the PN and is a prime protagonist of the Repubblika group.

Alex Borg is not a politically divisive figure either. I disagree with Borg on countless issues. But that does not give me the license to attack, personally, the young MP, or call him names for that matter. Borg and I agree to disagree, and I want to believe that it is mutual. Not so for the failed politician Kevin Cassar, who lashed out at him calling him names and accusing him of political treason. It was shallow and uncalled for.

Despite efforts by the PN leadership to conceal the huge rifts within the party, the failed candidate Kevin Cassar, in less than 800 words, unveiled the astonishing rivalry and political plots within the Nationalist Party.

It is no surprise that the electorate can not bring itself to trust the Nationalist Party with their and their children's, future. For who can trust a party, as divided as the PN is, with government? Before the PN puts its house in order, it can not expect to be trusted with governing the country.

The problem with the PN, however, is that the extremist faction within it has no intention of allowing the party to put its house in order.

The more things change, the more they remain the same or the worse they get. The likes of Kevin Cassar, Jason Azzopardi, and Karol Aquilina ensure that deep in a hole, the PN digs deeper.

A speech in Poland

This week, I was in Poland for an informal meeting of the EU Ministers for Culture. In my speech, I reiterated Malta's commitment to foster stronger relations between Ukraine and the European Union. 

Ukrainian culture is European culture and culture does not come in bits and pieces. It is part of a whole. 

Supporting Ukrainian culture can be done through EU exchange and technical programmes, which would not only be beneficial to Ukraine's cultural sector but also draw Ukraine closer to the EU in ways which are peaceful. 

Malta is ready to assist in technical expertise in matter of cultural heritage protection. 

During the meeting we also spoke about the priorities we have for the so-called Culture Compass, as well as our best practices with regards to our efforts to bring youths closer to realising their dreams through the creative industries. 

Truly whilst culture is not a universal solution for all societal issues, it is a solution for most of them. And right now, in the geopolitical world we live in, we do need more culture in our societies and communities. 

We should harness more culture's considerable powers to foster coherent and inclusive societies. Culture also strengthens democracies.

I am convinced that culture helps societies become much more resilient in the face of overlapping crises, some of which are engineered beyond our borders.

Referring to Malta, I explained how our country has consistently followed a diverse policy, allowing cultural practitioners, including our youth, and operators to receive support without administrative burdens. 

This support also comes in the form of various tax incentives, as we seeks to provide practitioners with new possibilities for further development in their chosen art form. 

As I heard Minister after Minister explain what they are doing in their respective countries, I could not but sense the positive energy towards more culture in Europe. I am confident that in this generation a lot has been done and more will be done together. 

It was a fruitful meeting indeed.