The harder Simon Busuttil tries to detach himself from his past and his ties with the GonziPN administration, the more he finds himself being held hostage by these same associations.
The latest confirmation of this is his stance regarding the relocation of the monti hawkers to Ordnance Street, Valletta. He came out guns blazing against this decision.
However, it soon transpired that, in an e-mail less than two years earlier, when he was deputy leader, the Nationalist Party had unequivocally promised the monti hawkers they would be moving to Ordnance Street by not later than December 1, 2013. The promise was made by Jason Azzopardi, one of the PN’s principal shadow Cabinet members who enjoys the full trust and support of the Opposition leader.
This actually came to pass on March 9, 2013 – the day of the general election, at 4.15pm. In a May 2013 interview on Times of Malta, Azzopardi was quoted saying he had promised this only after having been given the go-ahead by the PN leadership. There can be no doubt that Busuttil formed part of this leadership team.
Today, Busuttil chooses to go on the offensive and has accused the Labour Party of selling its soul in exchange for votes.
What are we to make of those who continued to make black-on-white promises even as late as 4.15pm on election day?
Busuttil claims he does not want the monti hawkers to relocate to Ordnance Street because the Renzo Piano project deserves better.
Of course, on March 9, 2013, when the PN promised it would move the market to Ordnance Street, the Piano project had already begun and was already a five-year work-in-progress.
Simon Busuttil may try to run away from his past but it keeps coming back to haunt him
Busuttil therefore needs to explain why this promised move is now suddenly perceived as a major error in taste, why it went unheeded and why it did not pose any problems to the GonziPN or to himself as deputy leader less than two years ago.
Busuttil may well try to run away from his past, however, it keeps coming back to haunt him.
However much he tries to talk about the way the party has changed with him at the helm, the truth is that the PN has remained unchanged.
The indisputable truth which cannot be altered or erased is that Busuttil was deputy leader in the GonziPN administration. He was handpicked by GonziPN as a special delegate, he wrote both the GonziPN electoral manifestos of 2008 and 2014 and was a Nationalist MEP between 2004 and 2014 under GonziPN.
As the saying goes, the harder he tries to demonstrate he has changed, the more he is confronted by factors proving everything has remained unchanged.
Busuttil is doing his utmost to give the impression he has sidelined those members of Parliament who served as ministers under the GonziPN administration. The truth is that had it been up to Busuttil, Lawrence Gonzi would still be prime minister and those Busuttil purports to have sidelined would still be ministers.
As the special delegate of the GonziPN administration during the PN general conference in June 2012, Busuttil himself had thanked the then ministers for their cooperation. In November of that same year, when he had been appointed deputy leader, Busuttil had stated he was willing to throw his hat into the ring because he wanted to see the PN led by Gonzi once again in government.
Busuttil may do his utmost to make the public forget his past utterances but he remains the living legacy of the GonziPN administration.
He had portrayed himself as the only hope for the GonziPN administration to win the 2013 election.
However, with him at the helm, both in the role of deputy leader and as leader, the PN suffered two bruising electoral defeats in one year.
On both occasions, the PN polled 36,000 votes less than Labour.
The PN has not changed over the last two years. Like his predecessors before him, Busuttil has not acted firmly and decisively when faced with cases where Nationalist MPs should have clearly carried political responsibility. Busuttil has been weak and continues to have confidence in his MPs.
Only a few days ago, a soldier was found guilty of the death of a migrant.
An inquiry carried out under a GonziPN administration had concluded that the minister of justice and home affairs at the time – who still forms part of Busuttil’s parliamentary group – had stopped steps being taken in respect of soldiers involved in the death of another migrant.
Another inquiry during the Gonzi administration concluded that yet another MP belonging to Busuttil’s parliamentary group had compelled employees of the Department of Public Works to sign a false declaration regarding works he had sent them to carry out at the PN club in Żurrieq.
Busuttil has never stopped affirming his belief in a new way of doing politics.
He had the perfect opportunity to show us he meant business when faced with these two serious cases.
Instead, he chose to continue defending his MPs in much the same manner as under the GonziPN administration.
Two years have elapsed since thegeneral election and Busuttil still has not overcome his biggest problem: his lack of credibility.
Busuttil simply cannot be trusted.
Deborah Schembri is a Labour MP.