Whether it’s accurate observation or arrogance, of which he is often accused, Austin Gatt certainly got people talking with his remark that the Nationalist Party will remain in power for another 20 years. Kurt Sansone reports.

Austin Gatt, the minister for communications, has lived up to the label given to him by US embassy officials in a Wikileaks cable of being ambitious and straightforward, this time with his observation that the PN will win all elections for the next 20 years.

His remark came in the context of a speech delivered at the PN’s Independence Day celebrations on the Granaries in Floriana where Dr Gatt spoke about Microsoft’s intention to set up a research centre on cloud computing in Malta.

“The PN has always invested in people... it took political risks,” Dr Gatt said positing this as the party’s “secret” of its electoral success. He then said the PN’s vision was what made people return to it and this would ensure victory in all elections for the next 20 years.

Not surprisingly, Dr Gatt, who can be credited with being the mastermind behind the country’s drive to embrace information technology over the past decade, received a rousing applause from the audience made up of party activists and supporters.

After having won the last election by a relative majority, with a mere 1,700 votes separating the PN and Labour, the next election is anything but a foregone conclusion for Dr Gonzi’s government.

The latest the election can be held is June 2013, a full 21 months away, unless Dr Gonzi decides on an earlier date.

Famous for his barb that “a week is a long time in politics”, 21 months would definitely not be a period former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson would bet on, let alone 20 years.

Nationalist backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando shares the same feeling, insisting it is difficult to foretell what will happen in the next election.

“Austin’s speech was probably intended to uplift the activists in front of him rather than a statement of absolute certainty that the PN will win,” Dr Pullicino Orlando said.

It was only two weeks before an election that any political party could possibly have a proper feel of how people would vote, he added, noting that many factors could influence the electorate.

“At the moment things are tough for the government like any legislature in mid-term. Tough measures were taken and uncertainty still surrounds the international economy. It is still a long way to the next election.”

Dr Gatt’s statement created a flurry of imaginative comments on timesofmalta.com, with someone describing him as “Gattudamus” in remembrance of the French 16 th century seer Nostradamus, who is said to have foretold the future.

“I cannot understand how some people say they cannot stomach him (Dr Gatt) since he is a very humorous person,” Patrick Gafà said of his “Gattudamus”.

Nicholas Cassar even compared him to Paul, the octopus that shot to fame during last year’s World Cup after guessing match winners.

Bar a 22-month interlude between 1996 and 1998, the PN has been at the country’s helm since 1987. If the counting starts in 1987, another 20 years in power would rival the Gaddafi regime’s 42 years at the helm but a more democratic comparison would be the PN’s sister party in Luxembourg, the Christian Social Union.

The CSU has been heading various coalition governments in the tiny EU state at the heart of Europe since 1979, a whopping 32 years, while the current leader Jean Claude Juncker is the EU’s longest serving Prime Minister having held the post since 1995.

Dr Gatt may have had this in mind when speaking of the PN’s prospects for the next two decades but few online readers appreciated what they termed as “arrogant” behaviour.

Nationalist activist and election analyst Herman Schiavone finds some justification in Dr Gatt’s remarks even if he insists 20 years is a very long time.

“Judging by the performance of the past 20 years Austin is right because the PN in government took risky decisions that were right even if unpopular and the people appreciated this time and again,” Dr Schiavone said.

The Labour Party in opposition was not offering anything new and was simply riding the wave of discontent by trying to please everyone.

His remarks though also came with a label that says caution: “Nobody can predict the future.”

And this is a maxim the Labour Party knows all too well. Before the 2008 election, party officials were confident of winning on the back of a government that had been in power for 21 years, only to lose for the third time in a row.

“Labour knows it has to keep working hard and our aim is not simply winning elections but improving families’ standard of living,” a Labour Party spokesman said.

Dr Gatt’s comment, he said, showed the true colours of a Prime Minister “focused solely on winning elections and caring little about what happens to families between one election and another”.

Taking a dig at the public transport reform piloted by Dr Gatt, which has led to numerous consumer complaints, the spokesman said the minister may have got used to “calculating time by Arriva standards”.

A PN spokesman steered clear of the 20-year prediction but insisted the party was determined to continue implementing the “right policies” that enabled Malta to navigate the choppy waters caused by the economic storm.

“It will then be up to the electorate to decide and the PN has an excellent track record of always accepting the people’s verdict,” the spokesman said.

Turning his guns on Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, he said the PN was convinced the Labour leader “is not fit” to lead the country.

“He (Dr Muscat) admitted on more than one occasion that he has no solutions to the country’s challenges and the problems he says the country has. On Sunday he was his usual self; painting a very dark picture of Malta’s economic situation and saying nothing on what his remedies are.”

Only time will tell whether Dr Gatt’s observation is a glimpse into the future or an outlandish statement intended to galvanise the party’s hardcore left reeling by the divorce saga that pitted the predominant conservative faction against liberal Nationalists.

‘Mistake’ to assume – PM

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi last night said that it was a mistake to take matters for granted and assume that, as Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt had stated on Sunday, the PN would be in government for the next 20 years.

However, he was convinced the people would again choose the Nationalist Party to lead them forward in the next election. The PN would be handing over to the people a country that was better and stronger.

Dr Gonzi was answering questions by The Malta Independent managing editor Stephen Calleja during a public discussion held as part of the Independence festivities at the Granaries in Floriana.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com