I really do not know who stood more to gain, whether the Nationalist Party, with the victory (choice) of Simon Busuttil as leader, or Malta, with the extraordinary gesture of Mario de Marco who understood what the party most needed: unity more than a name. He withdrew from the election campaign for the leadership (campaign rather than race is the correct term) and the party celebrated an unexpected and much needed feast of unity.

The joy in the hall was more because of de Marco’s generous gesture than anything else. In this sense Malta, more than the party, stood to gain.

This is because it was about time that the nation experienced such values from the political world and people: namely that the group is more important than the individual, that loyalty is a supreme value, that one should be ambitious to serve others and not to serve his spurious ambitions. These are fundamental Christian values well developed in the social teaching of the Catholic Church, which the world of politics desperately needs to reflect upon.

De Marco stole the night. It was all his. He helped the nation (more than the party), with his extraordinary gesture, to breathe again. He behaved as a most decent son of an extraordinary politician that his father was. He almost outwitted his father.

With politicians like him, I am sure Busuttil’s task will be far easier than that of his predecessor.

Lawrence Gonzi, let it be said, before all those stabbings in the back, practised uncommon statesmanship.