Over the last three months, Facebook has been awash with Nationalist Party ‘supporters’ and political fans of PN leadership contenders telling us what should be the way forward for the party. They make noise. They give the impression the PN is ravaged by internal dissent. With all due respect to their views, they are not representative of Maltese electors at large.
The absolute majority of Maltese voters are quiet, going about their daily lives, as people often do.
Partisan politics is not their cup of tea. But they want, and deserve, a government that delivers and a functioning Opposition that keeps government under scrutiny and offers a better alternative to it.
It’s the quiet voter that I had in mind when, eight weeks ago, I announced my intention to contest the post of PN deputy leader for party affairs.
Now that the leadership campaign is over, the focus shifts to who will flank Adrian Delia at the helm. The current situation, regardless of whether we supported Delia’s bid or not, calls on us, within the party, to stand up and be counted.
I have been involved in the PN for over three decades, but never have I held office in any Nationalist government.
This, I believe, gives me, but even more so the party, the added advantage of having, on its leadership team, someone who knows the party inside out but can offer a fresh perspective based on long years of experience in the political field, at the grassroots and local leve, and beyond.
For besides having served as Sliema mayor four consecutive times, I have also cut my teeth in the commercial world, where, at times from scratch, I built a successful family business which today employs no fewer than 500 people.
It is for this reason, based on my experience in local politics and the commercial world, and having had the support, time and again, of my constituents – in the June election I won 2,000 votes more than in 2013, notwithstanding the huge increase in candidates – that I am throwing my hat in the ring, not for personal gain, as that is beyond my ambitions in life, but to serve the party to the best of my abilities.
The PN emerged from the June 3 election flat on its back. Simon Busuttil gave the party his all, and from a restructuring point of view he made significant inroads.
But more, much more, needs to be done if the PN wants to become electable again.
For a start, we need to strengthen the party’s financial situation. In the coming days, I shall be explaining, in detail, how as deputy leader for party affairs I intend to do just that. It won’t be a one-man show.
Indeed, a team effort is required.
We need the right people on board, and by ‘right’ I mean people who are not after personal gain and the fulfilment of personal ambitions, but well-meaning individuals who have ample experience in the business and commercial world.
The to-do list is endless. The stakes are high, the challenges are many, but together we can and will succeed
To strengthen the party’s financial situation requires individuals who are business savvy and competent in the restructuring of organisations. No, a political party is not a commercial enterprise – its policies should be people, rather than business,orientated, but that doesn’t exclude the need to put the party, and its commercial organisations, on a sound footing.
Finances aside, the PN needs to reshape its internal organisation. I want to streng-then ELCOM by giving it the right tools.
The same applies to our sectional committees. They have, so far, served us well – but they need to look beyond their current role of distributing party membership and organising social events. Sectional committees need to be beefed up and encouraged to think outside the box.
The PN media arm needs to be reshaped, its purpose redefined, its people trained, its tools sharpened. It is unacceptable that, time and again, NET TV and Radio 101 lag behind in broadcasting surveys.
The solution to address this matter is not the chopping off of heads – but the retraining of employees and encouraging them to think outside the box, come up with fresh ideas, dare to risk and be different.
Only then can the party’s media arm build muscle and become, as it once was, Malta’s leading media house.
The to-do list is endless. The stakes are high, the challenges are many, but together we can and will succeed.
Yes, it is a Herculean task – but I’ve been there and done that.
Life throws at you challenges which you either decide to avoid or take head on and translate them into opportunities.
I intend to do just that.
I am a stage in life when, thanks to hard work and always surrounding myself with the right people, I can give my all to the PN without asking for anything in return, certainly no financial compensation, for what I’m after is to strengthen my party and make it electable again.
The quiet voter demands it.
Robert Arrigo is a Nationalist Party deputy leader for party affairs contender.