Doing what is best for the country

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is insisting that this is not the right time for the country to face an early election. The argument has now become academic for, even if, hypothetically, the party and Franco Debono were to patch up their differences, will the party be willing to trust him again?

With the PN trailing behind Labour in popularity polls, it is quite understandable for Dr Gonzi to procrastinate in taking the country to the polls so that his party could have enough time to recover from the setback. However, given the circumstances that have developed since Dr Debono broke ranks with his party, Dr Gonzi has no sensible option but to call an election, that is, if he wants to remain consistent with his declaration that his priority is working for the national interest.

He is right in seeking confirmation of his party’s leadership, but, while this is important in the wake of Dr Debono’s words and actions, it will definitely not clear away the political uncertainty that Dr Debono’s stand has brought about. It will only confirm his party’s trust in him, but Dr Debono has not withdrawn his call for Dr Gonzi’s resignation. In other words, even when, as generally expected, Dr Gonzi is confirmed party leader, it will not be business as usual either for the party and, much less, for the country.

It may be true that Malta never stops talking politics, but the degree of political uncertainty that the Franco Debono issue has created is making business and industry somewhat edgy.

It is not just that the party in government is now running on a slow puncture, as one Nationalist MP put it a few days ago, but that the party is not even in a position to replace the tyre as the wheel is jammed! It is hardly correct either to say, as one Nationalist MP kept saying on the PN radio on Sunday, that the people are against the holding of a general election ahead of time. The general feeling is that a general election is exactly what is best for the country in the circumstances.

Of course, it would have been better had Dr Debono not started the political avalanche, but once he did, there appears to be no way of stopping it. What is best for the country: prolonging the situation for as long as the government can possibly manage to survive, or going to the polls now to remove the uncertainty, stop the avalanche and get the political situation back to normal so that the country can face up to the new challenges which the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone may whip up in the months ahead?

Since it is most unlikely that the political uncertainty will go away on its own, the best course of action would therefore seem to be that of going to the polls. Whether the Parliament building or some other project is ready or not is immaterial at this stage. The electorate and, particularly, the uncommitted voters, are hardly likely to vote on the strength of the completion of government projects. The string of mistakes the PN in government has made in this legislature will not be forgotten, but after all what will matter most is whom to trust most with the country’s direction.

Labour has yet to prove that it merits the people’s trust. A change of tie colour is not enough!