Tonight, the Nationalist Party leadership contenders convene on NET television for the leaders’ debate. The PN is choosing a new leader who doubles as leader of the Opposition and a prime minister in waiting.
Leadership contests are a serious matter. Tonight, the people deserve to see their potential leaders talking about the future of our country.
These are challenging, yet interesting, times for the PN. Talk of turmoil and factions during the leadership campaign is absolute nonsense. If anything, this leadership campaign has shown that thousands of well-meaning individuals are interested in seeing the PN reconnect with the electorate and become electable again.
But back to tonight’s debate.
Buzzwords will get us nowhere. It is easy to pledge that you’ll listen to peoples’ grievances and apologise for errors made.
People expect answers and solutions to their problems. Where there are none, they must be told as much. Giving the impression that, as leader, you will be everything to everyone is a sure way to fail after a few months in office. Political popularity is here today, gone tomorrow, as Donald Trump has discovered.
Meanwhile, Facebook is awash with photos of leadership contenders making merry with people at village feasts – notwithstanding that most of them will not have a say in the leadership race, but never mind that. All this will fade come September 17, and then the new leader will realise what a lonely job a leadership post can be.
It’s a mammoth task for whoever is entrusted with the top job.
The successor to Simon Busuttil has a long, wearisome path of persuasion ahead of him.
As a tax-paying citizen of Malta, these are a few questions I would like fellow journalists to ask the leadership contenders this evening. I hope viewers are spared the usual nonsense of who should or should not be allowed to return to the party’s fold, or whether the new leader will distance himself from this or that journalist, which is a stupid question to ask really, as no party leader in his right senses should be distancing himself from journalists.
Party leaders should distance themselves from wrongdoers, not from journalists, whose task is to expose wrongdoers.
Here are the questions: why should you lead the PN?
Giving the impression you will be everything to everyone is a sure way to fail after a few months
The PN is a party with a diverse electoral base. How do you plan to maintain these various elements of the party in one cohesive whole?
How would you go about redressing the balance in the PN’s favour if you became its leader? Should the PN outdo the Labour Party to win support, or should it present a clear alternative?
What are your plans to ensure that the PN maintains its role as the party of good governance?
What are the most urgent needs of the country at the moment, and what problems do you envisage it is likely to face in the near future?
How do you think these problems can be met, and what role should the PN in Opposition play in contributing to their resolution?
What are your plans to address the challenges related to law and order?
Employment is increasing, but wages tend to be stuck at a low level and this at a time when property and rental prices are on the rise. How do you intend to address this matter?
How do you intend to address the pay gap between men and women?
Traffic congestion is choking economic activity. What innovative ways will you explore to ease this constraint?
What are the new economic clusters that need to be developed in 10-15 years’ time?
Would you consider the introduction of an annual wealth declaration for all public officers above a defined grade?
Would you change the Marriage Equality Act to include all the amendments proposed by the PN?
Nothing is happening with the current Panama-related investigations. How do you plan to react?
Joseph Muscat’s Labour dished out all sorts of favours in the run-up to the election. Do you plan to promise the same to secure the electorate’s vote?
Populism and know-it-all personalities are common these days. How do you ensure the PN steers clear of such tendencies while retaining consistency with its history, its values and its reputation?
Good governance, transparency and equity are very dear to law-abiding citizens. How do you intend to ensure such principles are upheld and strengthened?
Tonight, we expect potential PN leaders to explain their vision for the country and for those grilling them to ask pertinent questions on bread-and-butter issues.
It’s the least we can ask for.
Frank Psaila is a lawyer by profession.