The Nationalist Party is indeed facing troubled but interesting times. Fresh from a crushing electoral defeat, the party needs to inevitably examine the reasons for this loss and start rebuilding from within its internal structures.
There will be no losers in the race
In Government, the PN could boast of impressive track records in a wide variety of sectors. All this was achieved during particularly difficult times both internationally, locally and internally.
Maybe the pressure of trying to keep this impossible balance lends itself as one of the reasons why so many of the electorate felt distanced from the party.
The post-mortem of this electoral defeat will surely reveal this and other significant reasons. Identification of issues will be crucial but finger pointing will be a waste of time.
At such a crucial crossroads for our party, where emotions are still understandably raging high, more than ever before, the principal message should be one of unquestionable unification.
Before I am misquoted or taken to task over this, let me clarify that I am not saying that the PN was divided. What I am doing is voicing my opinion that, in these times of so many changes within the party, our main target should be to work as a team to rebuild our party.
It has happened before and it will happen again. Like the legendary Phoenix rising from the ashes, together we can make the right choices to see our party regenerate, work effectively as a strong force in Opposition and, together with its members, prepare itself for governance.
The PN owes all this not only to the many tens of thousands who expressed confidence in and solidarity with it at the polls but also to those who chose to make the switch for reasons they were disingenuously led to believe.
The first challenge will be the choice of a new PN leader. With Lawrence Gonzi immediately doing the honourable thing of accepting responsibility for the defeat and deciding not to stand again for leadership, the contest is on to find a new captain for the ship.
Admittedly, it is no easy role to fulfil and, with such a long list of challenges that appear impossible to overcome, the task seems daunting enough. It is, therefore, with a sense of reverence and appreciation that I gratefully thank all those who have submitted their nomination for this post. It cannot have been an easy decision on any of them but it is glaringly obvious that their sense of commitment, loyalty and service to the party and the country has triumphed.
With four contenders for the post, the choice will notbe an easy one for the party’s councillors.Simon Busuttil, Mario de Marco and Francis Zammit Dimech are all party heavyweights whose allegiance is not in doubt. I am afraid I cannot comment on Raymond Bugeja because I have never met him. The next three weeks will see these candidates meeting with councillors, making their proposals and, more importantly, listening.
This is not a time for divisive arguments, certainly not a time for sparring over candidates.
Rather, it is a golden opportunity to take stock and reconstruct with the help of these architects of ours.
I envisage that there will be some who, through the social media or in the village square, will try to poison this process through unsavoury strategies. This would be a grave mistake. Councillors with the right to vote should listen carefully to what our candidates have to say, compare and, ultimately, decide for the good of the party.
It goes without saying that a final decision on personal preference will be made. But when all is said and done and a choice has been made, let us emerge as a party that has undergone a powerful process and surface as a unified team ready to take on the challenges ahead. Will this be easy? Certainly not but it is up to us to make it possible.
The party is at a delicate crossroads but with careful, responsible decisions we can guide it back onto the main thoroughfare.
The sooner we do this the better to ensure an effective watchdog in Opposition and the speedy regeneration of internal party structures.
This is history in the making. It will, most probably, be a difficult gestation period before we are born to move on again.
This is the cold unassailable nature of the political game where players must, beyond anything else, possess maturity, a sense of purpose and a heavy dose of gravitas and unlimited humility.
I trust that all party councillors understand the highly-charged decisions they will be making in the coming weeks. I augur that, for the good of the party and of this country, the best man (as in this case we do not have a female contender) is chosen. Simon, Mario and Francis all have the necessary qualities to occupy this position.
After a choice for leader is made, we have to move on to choose other candidates contesting other strategic roles in the party.
There will be no losers in the race but, hopefully, we will all be victorious in this rejuvenation exercise that will see the Phoenix triumphantly rise again.
info@carolinegalea.com