Politicians simply love keeping people guessing about their intentions. Labour leader Joseph Muscat is an expert at it but the Prime Minister, Lawrence Gonzi, is no novice on this score either. With his political prospects seemingly growing dimmer, he is being put under increasing pressure by popular opinion to do something to, first, stop the bleeding, as one of his government’s ministers has described the party’s internal quarrelling, and then to see how it can possibly go about reuniting the party in the run-up to the election which, irrespective of the twists and turns the political situation takes, has to be held in less than a year’s time.
If, after so many years in government, the Nationalist Party’s task in beating Labour at the next election would have been very difficult, the prospects for it now have been greatly narrowed by internal party squabbling.
The political problems for the Nationalists in this legislature seem to have snowballed, with the party leader seemingly incapable of getting to grips with them. He was not politically astute and strong enough to stop the undercurrents in time. Of course, the fact that the party has a majority of only one seat in Parliament has not helped at all.
In the face of all this and to his credit, Dr Gonzi has managed to keep the country on the right economic track. He has also been able to keep that air of confidence in the country inspired by his predecessor, Eddie Fenech Adami, whose firm hand on the tiller would have brooked no nonsense of the kind displayed by Franco Debono, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Jesmond Mugliett.
Dr Gonzi does not have that kind of political persona that would have deterred people in his team to take foolish actions. Expressing different opinions to those held by their party is one thing but acting out of personal interest, as, in the opinion of most people, the three MPs did, is quite another.
The problem is that their shenanigans have come at a most critical time for their party.
So, what “important decisions” will the party’s executive be taking tomorrow. The manner in which Dr Gonzi worded his message, mentioning, in the process, the party’s and country’s interests, indicates that there may be more in the offing than the possibility of the executive inflicting disciplinary measures on the three disgruntled MPs.
The thing is that, while he is calling on party members to set aside their personal agenda, on the other hand, he keeps bringing up the point that those who voted with the opposition or, as in the case of Mr Mugliett, abstained, had to be held accountable and face the consequences of their actions. In other words, he is sounding conciliatory at one point and hard at another.
With a new poll carried for The Sunday Times showing that Labour has a 10-point lead, the PN would naturally want to stay in power up to the last moment before the expiry of their term in the hope of turning the tide. However, even though turning the tide would seem next to impossible, what may seem impossible today can very well happen tomorrow, as political history shows.
Dr Muscat’s Labour Party has not, as yet, given credible evidence that it merits to be entrusted with the country’s administration. Despite all its internal trouble and the mistakes it has made, the Nationalist government’s record of taking the right decisions at the right time is unquestionable.