If imitation is really the sincerest form of flattery then Simon Busuttil, the new Nationalist Party leader, must admire the Labour Party and Joseph Muscat, its leader, beyond all bounds.

There is no reason why a good thing should not be copied

Busuttil’s first action as the fresh man at the PN top was to copy the PL and Muscat, word for word in a cut and paste job. He persuaded his party to appoint two deputy leaders, not one.

That’s the Labour Party structure all over, one ridiculed and reviled by the Nationalists since Dom Mintoff created it.

Following that Busuttil is all set, it emerges from his interview with yesterday’s The Sunday Times of Malta, to propose the introduction of a Chief Executive Officer post in his party structure. That was one of the first things Joseph Muscat did within his party on becoming leader.

It is odds on, too, that Simon Busuttil will, in due course, propose that the Nationalist Party changes its name and also its flag. Once again, that was exactly what Muscat proposed shortly after becoming Labour leader.

Still, Nationalist activists would surely have preferred their leader to be a little bit more original. They are not necessarily right. There is no reason why a good thing should not be copied.

Branding is the name of the modern game. You don’t have to pay consultants to tell you that, even if you are flush with money, which the PN, reputed to be €8 million in the red on a profit and loss basis, is not.

Busuttil’s branding exercise is questionable on other counts.

One of the ills that had riven Lawrence Gonzi’s Nationalist Party was the divisions which erupted within it, making it implode.

One of the tasks Busuttil set himself, even as deputy leader, was to heal such division. He did not succeed by the time the election came along. Will he succeed now?

Creating an extra post of deputy leader suggests that he had to bend in the face of fresh disunity. Busuttil is acutely aware that he was the choice of his party’s councillors, but not quite the popular choice.

Out there Mario de Marco was the favourite. It could be that was also the case among the party’s membership.

Yet the old GonziPN resisted calls to open up the leadership race beyond the councillors. The result – Busuttil’s election – rankles among a substantial segment of the party and might not be well viewed among erstwhile Nationalists who switched to Labour on March 9.

To ease that situation it would have been good politics had Mario de Marco been nominated as deputy leader by popular acclaim, as happened in respect of Guido de Marco when Eddie Fenech Adami became leader. Strong rumour has it, however, that Beppe Fenech Adami was determined to run for the post, de Marco or no de Marco. The leader, therefore, is trying to patch up a compromise. Time will tell whether it will work.

It worked when Mintoff attempted it 37 years ago, largely because of his strong personality. I doubt that today’s deputy leaders would enjoy being such practically in name only.

The touted new CEO position is a different matter. Busuttil will probably restrict that to his party’s commercial activities, mostly its media.

In that regard the new post will make a lot of sense.

A mixed start, then, one that does not promote overwhelming enthusiasm. But new starts need time to take root. One has to be fair to Busuttil and give him that, with the first test being the European Parliament elections in a year’s time.

That is a benchmark Labour too has to work towards. Like new cars, new governments tend to suffer depreciation once they take to the road. That will happen to Labour, especially if Malta for All does not measure up to the expectations created in the general election campaign.

In particular if there is the slightest hint that bias is created towards segments of the Labour party, making other segments feel underprivileged. That was another of the reasons why the PN ended in tatters, so Labour beware.

Meanwhile Busuttil’s troops will be busy beavering away, trying to raise cash to bridge their deficit, and putting out ground personnel in force to knock on doors.

Money might start trickling in, but knocking on doors without a strong message will not achieve much. Busuttil wants to look forward. Yet the new message will have to start with a pathetic “sorry”. It will then have to promise atonement.

If that takes the form of a commitment to put Nationalists first the next time around, the wheel will only have turned full circle.