‘Bold’ is the most obvious word to describe Simon Busuttil’s root and branch shake-up of his front bench on Thursday. Since he became leader he has been saying that he wants to break with the past and this is his strongest statement of intent to date.
Dr Busuttil seemingly paid attention to timing. The reshuffle comes after he spent a lengthy period finding his feet within the party – making efforts to put people in place to make it his own – and after he played a role in helping the party find its feet so that it could emerge from the financial quagmire it is in.
Secondly, Dr Busuttil carried out this giant political move after he managed – arguably for the first time since he became leader – to draw blood from the Labour government over the Manuel Mallia affair. This propelled him in the eyes of some doubters from poor Joseph Muscat opponent to bona fide leader of the Opposition.
Dr Busuttil, who is a hugely determined figure, no doubt gained confidence from that and believes he can now demonstrate in public that he is taking the Nationalist Party by the scruff of the neck.
Some people may question whether he has been too radical. All but three former ministers – and they were certainly not long-standing ones – have gone, leaving him with much less experience.
The counter-argument to that, however, is that he had no choice. Given that the next election is such an uphill struggle anyway, taking the bull by the horns will at least show that he is putting his money where his mouth is, in terms of talking of change, and is giving it his very best shot. It also gives Labour – which had become comfortable with the PN frontbench – something to think about.
As with any reshuffle, there are winners and losers. The status of Mario de Marco, already deputy leader, has been cemented within the party, while Beppe Fenech Adami, who is bravely fighting his own personal battle with admirable guile, will feel very much at home with home affairs.
Claudio Grech has also been thrust forward, as have four women: Claudette Buttigieg, Roberta Metsola, Therese Comodini Cachia and Marthese Portelli.
While any kind of tokenism when it comes to women tends to backfire, Dr Busuttil is evidently trying to transmit a message here.
However, the wisdom of having two of these key spokeswomen in Brussels must be called into question, as should the giant area of responsibility given to Dr Portelli – who may have on her plate a great deal more than she can chew.
Meanwhile, from the cull there is one change that Dr Busuttil could live to regret: Tonio Fenech. Although the former finance minister has baggage from the former administration, it is likely that he would have been able to shake that off. There is certainly no doubt that he is one of the biggest punchers when he is on his feet and, even though he is not about to leave politics, the PN will undoubtedly miss that.
Dr Busuttil will also have to handle disgruntlement that will come from other Nationalist MPs who feel hard done by. That’s part and parcel of leading a party and how he deals with it may well define his own future.
Months will have to pass before we find out if the changes made by Dr Busuttil are effective or not but he has rolled the dice and for that he deserves credit.