Editorial

The Times commented editorially yesterday that it is important for those at the helm to realise the urgency of ensuring that the transition with regard to the likely changes at the very top is of the shortest duration possible. This is a must both in order to ensure that the party in power can go on with its work and, more importantly, so that the decision-makers are able to concentrate on steering the country ahead.

It is by now an open secret that Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami is on his way out. And, an announcement could be imminent.

Succeeding him, whether as party leader or as prime minister, will be no mean feat. But it has to be done. After all, when Dr Fenech Adami was elected leader of the Nationalist Party in 1977 nobody would have forecast the big achievements to himself, his party and his country he would be making over the years. He too had succeeded a great leader, George Borg Olivier.

Of those to whom much is given, much is required, the late US President John F. Kennedy once said of leaders. That was so true in the case of Dr Fenech Adami who was not only faced with an already gargantuan internal task but also had to operate within a national context where the rule of law and democracy were anything but what one expected from a so-called civilised country.

It was an uphill battle but Dr Fenech Adami possessed another quality, one that President Kennedy had summed up in this manner: Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

He was also blessed with two right-hand men who had the intelligence, wisdom, organisation skills and, so essential in those difficult days, the courage to lead the party ahead, turning it into a national movement that eventually carried the day.

The Fenech Adami - Guido de Marco - Louis Galea triumvirate proved to be the perfect political mix to come up with the programme that the country then required. It was then a country on the verge of civil war but Dr Fenech Adami demonstrated his mettle as a strong leader and held back the reins.

He used to promise that "truth shall prevail" and, against all odds, it did when there was a change in government in 1987 and Dr Fenech Adami became prime minister, a post he has retained ever since save for a brief 22-month interruption between 1996-1998.

There are now indications he is nearing the day when he will step down. On February 7 Dr Fenech Adami will turn 70. Whether he shall be out of the scene completely or not has yet to be seen. Who will succeed him as party leader also has yet to be determined. One must also bide time to find out whether the last of the original PN triumvirate, that is, Dr Galea, will want to have a go at the leadership. Given his contribution to the party, he must certainly still enjoy a good degree of support among the grassroots.

What is certain is that it would be a waste of resources if, as rumours have it, he were to be kicked sideways, upwards or wherever.

Walter Lippmann, a writer, journalist and political commentator, says that the final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on. There is no doubt that will manifest itself in Dr Fenech Adami's succession which ought to be decided sooner rather than later.