This weekend’s PN general council was meant to focus on the creation of work but, as was inevitable, it turned into a soul-searching exercise on the country’s rejection of the party’s anti-divorce stand at last month’s referendum.

Strategically chosen, the keynote speech was delivered by philosopher Joe Friggieri – a former MEP candidate – who said the yes vote at the divorce referendum was a natural consequence of Malta’s EU accession.

“You cannot open a window and expect the wind not to blow through,” he said, explaining that when people voted to join the EU they were voting for freedom, and seven years of being in the EU strengthened this mentality.

The PN should now start questioning things it had long taken for granted. Referring specifically to gay rights and other issues, Prof. Friggieri said it would be a mistake to think the wind of change would dissipate after the referendum. And while values were important, the party must keep in mind that “freedom is also a value”.

Prof. Friggieri’s sentiments were shared by a number of other speakers, including parliamentary secretary Mario de Marco, who said the party was at a crossroads and this was a time to reflect on what it meant to be a Nationalist.

The PN was always a coalition of liberals and conservatives – not a conservative party – but on divorce, common ground had not been reached. He said the party should now change its anti-divorce policy and focus on a family policy that united both factions.

He warned that, while idealism was important, if the party did not change it risked becoming antiquated, and this is where realpolitik kicked in.

Pro-divorce MP Karl Gouder said he became active in the party during the EU referendum campaign when the PN was promoting progress over fear. The Maltese had now developed a European mentality thanks to the societal changes brought about by the PN.

“But are we also thinking with a European mentality?”

He said the PN was at a crossroads and, while not forgetting the party’s important values, the PN should choose the road of progress.

MEP Simon Busuttil made an indirect reference to former President Eddie Fenech Adami’s comments in The Sunday Times, that the government should postpone divorce legislation till after the election. To the contrary, Dr Busuttil said, the government should legislate “immediately”, adding that those who felt they should vote No should be given the freedom to do so unless their vote determined whether the law would pass or not – in which case, they should resign.

Recognising that this was a difficult time for the party, he said the party should not give up because it always “plays to win”. The PN had a responsibility not to let Labour win, he said, because they had no proposals to offer.

MEP David Casa said the party may have to refine its basic beliefs, recognising the fact that “this is 2011”.

He said he had faith that the people would choose the PN again at the next election, which was particularly important due to the 2017 EU presidency.

MP Jean Pierre Farrugia said that the ministers who worked hardest to modernise and reform the country were the ones who least understood that these changes also made Malta more secular.

He said the party had focused on the recession but in doing so it became distant from those who were falling behind – and this was the “divorce” the party should now focus on.

But anti-divorce backbencher Beppe Fenech Adami was, perhaps, the most cautious about opening the party up to new values.

He said the party could win the next election if it remained true to its Nationalist values, which included solidarity, work, education, healthcare and tolerance.

“But let us not sell our beliefs for momentary popularity,” he warned.

Meanwhile, anti-divorce Finance Minister Tonio Fenech largely ignored the issue, focusing instead on the economic disasters and unemployment facing other countries and warning that a Labour government would turn Malta into another Greece.

Resources Minister George Pullicino also referred to the crises facing other countries but reflected on the way the PN’s social reforms had created a “mature and emancipated” nation which continued to seek freedom. He said that, although Christian Democrats preferred the Catholic view of marriage, this did not mean that those who chose other forms should be forced into unjust situations.

He also called on the party to fish for new blood. His speech was followed by that of backbencher Francis Zammit Dimech who got the crowd clapping to his calls for the party to move forward and unite by respecting the decision of the majority without silencing the minority.

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