On the day that the Nationalist Party returned to the Floriana Granaries for its Independence Day festivities after a hiatus of seven years, the party’s leader Alex Borg announced a departure of his own.
The PN leader announced that his office as Opposition Leader will move out of the PN’s iconic headquarters in Pieta and to Valletta instead.
Borg will continue to use the party’s headquarters in Pieta for party affairs, but use the PN’s AŻAD building in Valletta’s Republic Street for matters which revolve around his role as Opposition Leader.
Announcing the move during a mass rally on the eve of Independence Day, Borg described it as being “the next step to Castille.”
Borg’s critics, meanwhile, were quick to label the move as a gimmick and a political stunt.
But which is it?
The move seems to take some inspiration from Britain’s Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Andy Burnham who, since being elected by his party members to the top role, has sought to de-centralise the corridors of power away from London.
To this end, he set up an office titled ‘Number 10 North’ in Manchester to serve as a secondary office for him to use as Prime Minister.
The reasoning perhaps is different to Malta, not least because unlike in the UK there is zero geographical factor to this – but it does appear like, with this mood, Borg wants to portray a PN that is closer to where things happen.
There are obvious positives to being based in Valletta. The country’s nerve centre still runs through the Capital: Parliament is there, most ministries are situated there, the law courts are there, many unions and constituted bodies are based there or thereabouts, and working professionals still congregate in Valletta.
It would be presumptuous to suggest that this is the next step towards taking up residency in Castille – which would be as Prime Minister – but in making this move, there is the symbolism of Borg, as leader of Malta’s second biggest political party aspiring to one day return to power, being in the area where the power is centralised.
There is also the matter of imagery. The PN has now been seen as something of a tiring institution in Maltese politics for several years, and the image of its headquarters in Pieta is something that may evoke strong feelings from the party’s most ardent demographic, but also a stale feeling in the more politically neutral of its audience.
Shifting to a new environment and having a bit of a change of scenery might help in that regard.
Yet at the same time, is it all really that meaningful?
Some will argue that the Opposition leader already has an office to make use of within the Parliament building, and so this is something which doesn’t really change much – hence why some have termed is a gimmick.
Realistically, is it the grand gesture that supporters or potential supporters of the party will be expecting of it? Not really. In actual fact, it’s an announcement which came very much out of the blue (pun not intended).
Indeed, the move alone will not solve much – if any – of the greater problems that the party is facing in becoming a viable alternative government for the country.
Is it, therefore, a futile exercise and nothing more than a headline grabber? It would be remiss to discard the decision as being simply that.
In reality, the party has likely been planning this move for a while now, so it will have thought out its reasoning for it – now it’s a question of seeing whether that reasoning holds any water with party members and voters.