The obituaries for Simon Busuttil after he announced his resignation from Nationalist Party leader were unduly flattering. It is perhaps not surprising given that they were mainly written by a restricted army of vociferous Busuttil supporters, on media that were all out propping up this failed politician before the June 3 general election.

The reality is Simon Busuttil was a weak leader who ran a single-issue campaign. There is one simple analysis that was not made yet: the PN lost because it was run terribly.

Busuttil’s problems come down to personality – which he imposed on his party – and inexistent policy. He literally ran the PN into the ground.

Any one of the 2013 party leadership contenders, or even his very decent predecessor, would have done a better job than him.

If any of the PN leadership hopefuls of 2017 do not scrap Busuttil’s legacy and publicly admonish his methods, they will seriously risk doing the same mistakes. Busuttil does not deserve any praise. Not just for the sake of the PN but also for the sake of the country.

His departure marks the end of the most divisive and negative Opposition leader in Malta’s political history. He will be remembered as the Opposition leader who sowed division and instigated politics of hatred.

He transferred his anger and bitterness to the party making it part of the PN’s ethos. He crossed lines he shouldn’t have when condoning, and himself leading, personal attacks on his opponents and their families.

He based his visceral campaign on one of the most colossal attempted frame-ups in Malta’s political history on the Prime Minister, his wife and his family. He gave fodder to the worst kind of vitriolic politics, which literally risked dividing the country had the people not shunned this brand of politics.

No one will shed tears for Simon Busuttil’s departure

In addition, Busuttil’s self-righteousness smacked of arrogance. His managers tried to groom him to look like an honest and holier-than-thou candidate for prime minister, when, in fact, he was not. His politics were anything but honest. And his sanctimonious behaviour was anything but genuine.

His antics came across as spiteful and people clearly saw through them.

He also surrounded himself with like-minded people, who were simply as smug and bitter.

Busuttil and his restricted coterie simply shut the doors to the more rational, moderate members of party.

It is not by coincidence that a large majority of voters feared the idea of Busuttil winning. It was because they saw him as divisive, weak and vacillating. He was perceived as fake.

An uncertain leader, aspiring to lead the country to an uncertain future. This message was exacerbated by the fact that he resorted to a dubious alliance with a non-party that ended up with two-seats in Parliament, pushing out two former Nationalist MPs. It was the most misguided strategic mistake made by any PN leader since its foundation.

The PN is fractured.

Even worse, when the PN loses, it starts to blame everyone but itself. It scorns voters. And it is exactly this sense of superiority that keeps surfacing that makes the PN a bad choice for the country.

There is not one iota of humility in such a huge defeat.

This is the legacy which Busuttil leaves behind him for his party.

For the country, Busuttil was bad news. He hit out at everyone who would not push his line. From constitutional authorities and positions such as the Attorney General, to the police force, to journalists and even individuals who dared support government policies.

A candidate for the office of prime minister should defend the country’s institutions, not try to ransack them for political game.

His attitude did not only hurt him but it hurt the country and the backlash at the polls clearly showed that Maltese and Gozitan families do not want politicians to bring down the house simply for political partisan gains.

No wonder Busuttil will be remembered as the only leader of a major political party in Malta not to become prime minister.

Busuttil leaves a shameful legacy, which the country needs to get rid of in order to have a stable and strong Opposition, which is needed in a strong and stable functioning democracy. Except for the coterie around him, no one will shed tears for Busuttil’s departure.

Indeed, he was one of the main reasons the PN lost with such a big margin.

At the same time, the country will be relieved to see Busuttil’s back. A breath of fresh air for local politics.

This is a great week for politics in Malta.

Kurt Farrugia is head of government communications.