“I don’t know,” was Tonio Fenech’s answer to the question in an opinion piece. He argued the Nationalist Party had become irrelevant. In wanting to be seen as liberal, the party became more like Labour, he concluded.

But hang on. The PN does not want to be seen as liberal – it is liberal. And the PL is not – indeed it is the antithesis of liberalism – no matter how many times Joseph Muscat tells us the PL is liberal and progressive.

Liberalism is not about divorce or gay marriage – that too. But that is a tiny fragment of liberalism. Bringing in divorce and gay marriage makes you as much a liberal as making the sign of the cross makes you a Christian.

True liberalism is about the values one holds dear; the values of tolerance, compassion, fairness, meritocracy, pluralism, equality before the law and internationalism.  It is also about the way in which politics is conducted – respectful debate not antagonistic offensive diatribe, detailed research not dogma.

Liberalism is about rational enlightenment based on evidence, reason and logic, a philosophy based on clear thought not muddled tabloid populism. Liberalism recognises that power should be dispersed not concentrated in the hands of a small core group of insiders. It is about true transparency and accountability not defiant State secrecy based on false premises of commercial sensitivity.

Liberalism abhors the arrogance of power. It detests a situation where the National Audit Office is unable to conduct the inventory at Villa Francia “due to reasons beyond its control”. It detests the cronyism that allows spouses of minsters being appointed to well-paid jobs without due process.

It detests the abuse of power, from inappropriate access to a blue-badge sticker to the secret sale of State hospitals. It detests the secrecy around trips to Azerbaijan by the Prime Minister and his core group with no accompanying civil servants.

It detests the disdain shown to Parliament in the shape of thousands of unanswered parliamentary questions. It detests the failure of the police force to investigate serious allegations and to prosecute those implicated in serious crime because of political protection.

We continue to witness the serious affronts to liberalism by the Labour Party today – the systematic targeting of individuals expressing different views

It detests the harassment and intimidation of journalists, the Opposition, the Archbishop and anybody else who has the temerity to question the establishment or disagree with the official Labour Party line.  Most of all it abhors the angry patriotism used to silence democratically elected representatives.

It is the PN that has always protected the values of liberalism. It was the party that rebuilt the University of Malta after it had been ruthlessly demolished. The symbolic seat of knowledge, critical thought and aspiration reduced to utter hubris.

The number of university students was decimated to a few hundred future essential “workers” some of whom were physically attacked by organised thugs.

It was the PN that revitalised the University, making possible the dreams of thousands, and the financial success of the energised country that Malta has become today. The PN did it because it valued independent thought and free speech which had been throttled by the Labour Party. The PN is the party that built up the economy that allows us to enjoy the benefits that we have today.

The PN is the party that liberalised the media, that gave the country its voices, its many voices. It is the party that always believed and still believes in pluralism and free speech. It is the party that removed the disgusting monopoly of State-controlled Xandir Malta which had become the Labour Party’s personal Pravda.

It is the party that allowed the birth of Super One radio and One television – knowing full well what they would become. But because it truly believed in the values of liberalism it gladly worked towards ensuring that everybody in this country will be able to speak his mind without having to resort to secret transmissions from Sicily under constant threats, harassment and intimidation.

Indeed it strove to ensure that even those who opposed its views, would benefit from those basic freedoms they had denied the rest of us.

The PN is the party of internationalism – another pillar of liberalism. It was the party with the vision to bring Malta into the European fold – an uphill struggle lasting years which it fought against the intimidation and scare tactics of Joseph Muscat and Alfred Sant.

The PN was the party that brought us hope and trust in our own ability and confidence as a young independent State, the party that brought us opportunity in the face of Labour’s mediocre isolationism.

This was the great clash of openness and open-mindedness against the cynical parochial insularity of the Labour Party. The dishonest exploitation of unjustified paranoia (AIDS, unemployment, etc) to dissuade the public from voting to join the European Union was not liberalism. The dangerous decision to bring people out onto the streets claiming that ‘Partnership’ had won was not liberal either.

And we continue to witness the serious affronts to liberalism by the Labour party today: the systematic targeting of individuals expressing different views, such as Winston Zahra, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Nationalist MEPs, by State apparatchiks and political appointees; the disgraceful treatment of Marlene Farrugia and Godfrey Farrugia at the counting hall and at the opening of Parliament by Labour Party activists; the total disdain shown by our Prime Minister to international institutions when he failed to require his chief of staff to attend the Pana committee hearing and even failing to attend himself, and so many other examples.

The PN stands for stuff that really matters – that is what it stands for Tonio. Even though the majority of the population right now may not realise how much that stuff matters, it really does.

It doesn’t make it matter less – indeed it makes it matter more. And soon enough the Nationalist Party that chooses reason over populism, moderation over antagonism, good governance over corruption will be called once again to put the true national interest first.

Kevin Cassar is a PN candidate, consultant vascular surgeon and associate professor of surgery.

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