Simon Busuttil has decided to go. He should take Daphne Caruana Galizia with him, and his team of strategists, if he had one. They have harmed their party when it needed healing.
Holy smoke, to see Joseph Muscat’s staggering majority of 2013 rise, rather than shrivel, is shaming indeed. And, as in 2013, the blogger must have been one of the main reasons for the lingering collapse.
The Nationalist Party did not take heed of the findings of its post-mortem into 2013’s humiliating loss.
All the odds were stacked against Busuttil, true. The economy was booming, unemployment was at a record low, tourism at a record high, Muscat had pulled a substantial surplus from his magic hat, LGBTI were for him, the health services were vastly improved, he won over most pensioners, and so on.
The rot at the PN started in the final years of the Fenech Adami era.
Lawrence Gonzi could not staunch it. And Busuttil, who was not the right man to mend matters, inherited the bare skeleton of a party. It was financially bankrupt and campaigning Busuttil was desperate and, what’s worse, floundering embarrassingly.
He made a debacle of the db Group snag and showed terrible judgement in bringing into his candidates’ team the vulgar likes of Salvu Mallia.
Joseph Muscat is obviously an excellent general. And lucky
Mallia, in particular, was an embarrassment. He made Labour, whose reputation was that of an uncouth peasant, look impeccable.
Which, indeed, they have become, in the main.
What’s more, Busuttil was no match for Muscat, who towered over him.
Muscat did not err in keeping Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri with him. I would say he took a gamble because he needed them and, wow, did it pay off.
Napoleon sought one particular attribute in his commanders. When anyone whom he consulted referred to some general’s military prowess, he would say: “I know he’s a good general but is he lucky?”
Muscat is obviously an excellent general. And lucky.
Busuttil based his whole campaign on Muscat’s apparent miscalculation about Mizzi and Schembri, shouting “corruption” all the way into his political coffin. He thought Muscat’s “mistake” was a lifeline.
In fact, it turned out to be a noose.
Corruption will never win any party an election. As a side subject, it serves well but should not be made the main plank.
Not in Malta, anyway. I have said it before and will repeat it: the Maltese are basically a corrupt people. Not wickedly corrupt but corrupt nonetheless, closing their eyes to many failings; consider some of the candidates who have been elected if you want proof.
Busuttil ran the corruption record into the ground. For a whole year he was blaring it out at loud volume. When it started screeching, he went headlong into the Egrant claim and Muscat was given the opportunity to depict himself, very justifiably, as a victim. I wonder, was Busuttil aware of what the blogger intended when that supposed coup de grâce was delivered?
Muscat also has another quality Busuttil lacks: the killer instinct. That is an invaluable quality for a politician.
Busuttil, a basically decent person, was thrust into politics by Eddie Fenech Adami, who first put him in the limelight and on the way to gaining ground for the leadership as Malta negotiated EU membership terms.
Then Gonzi continued with that initiative and groomed Busuttil for the leadership. The judgement of two Nationalist Prime Ministers was at fault.
Will Muscat’s unparalleled success go to his head? I don’t think so. He has shown unbelievably cool and accurate judgement so far. He has admitted mistakes and said they were learning from them. But did he apologise for them?
What he might do is change his mind about withdrawing from the political scene after this term, by giving up the leadership of the Labour Party. Will he?
Roger Mifsud is a retired journalist.