Former minister and PN leadership contender John Dalli said today that the Nationalist Party was lacking debate and people within the party felt they had no value.
Replying to questions on Radio Malta by Andrew Azzopardi, Mr Dalli said there was an enormous difference between the PN as it had been set up and developed, and how it was now.
After he was pushed out of the Cabinet, he said, he had publicly warned at a meeting of the PN Council that Nationalists were feeling disenchanted with the party and they were not seeing it as their home.
The situation now, he said, had deteriorated much more. The Nationalist Party was lacking debate within it. It was not involving everyone and some people felt they had no value within their party.
Mr Dalli said in reply to further questioning that he expected political responsibility to be borne by whoever was responsible - in this case the prime minister - about the way how he was pushed out of the Cabinet on the basis of a report which turned out to be false, and about which he had initially not been told.
He refused to answer a question on how he viewed the prime minister's judgement in general.
He said he did see inconsistency in the way how different people were treated after alleged wrongdoings, although he added that the issue of the Finance Minister having gone abroad on a businessman's jet was a minor matter.
As for the government, he insisted that it was wrong to divide the country on the basis of people's (political) colour with some people being placed in high places on the basis of their colour, despite their incompetence.
When it was pointed out to him that he appeared to be spending a lot of time on the PL media, Mr Dalli said he accepted the invitations of all those who invited him, and he was hardly ever invited by the PN media.
He spoke the truth as it was, and had nothing to be ashamed of, Mr Dalli said. During his service as a minister, he had brought in major reforms which had served to shield the country in the recent international financial storm.
AGAINST DIVORCE REFERENDUM
On divorce, Mr Dalli said this was another case where politicians should assume their responsibilities.
In such a complex issue, he disagreed that the decision should be taken at a referendum on the basis of a simple yes or no.
This was, ultimately, a political decision which should be taken by politicians who would then be accountable for their actions. They should not shirk their responsibilities.
Asked for his own position on divorce, Mr Dalli said the debate should be carried out in an objective manner, without emotions or other pressures. This was not a religious but a social argument.
He said that even more than the relationship between adults, one needed to consider issues such as children. Did it make sense to keep children in a state of permanent civil war within families when they could enjoy another, more peaceful relationship? Did it make sense for the children to be shuttled between parents?
Everybody spoke on the rights of the adults, but what about the children?
Furthermore, the solution for divorce, in his view, was better formation ahead of marriage. One needed to take more actions to ensure that marriages lasted, rather than trying to solve the problems after they were created.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS
When he replied to questions related to his role of European Commissioner, Mr Dalli said, with regard to GMO that he had no agenda.
He likened the argument to the one before the introduction of mobile phones when many people had warned of dangers and, were it up to them, they would not have been introduced.
There was a danger in everything, but it varied, Mr Dalli said. He had an open mind on this issue but people should be open for progress. In the case of GMOs, whoever wanted to introduce them had to prove their benefit for humanity.