The second round of the Nationalist Party leadership contest appears to have started on a better footing than the acrimonious first round. The contenders are beginning to discuss the party’s political platform in its very basics. At least Chris Said is doing so.
He says the PN should not become a “Labour Mark II” and emphasises principles, integrity and doing what is right. In a clear dig at his opponent, Adrian Delia, he says the party cannot afford to have a leader who is always busy defending himself.
Dr Delia has been at the centre of controversy, fending off allegations concerning a London-based prostitution racket. He has vehemently denied the claims. Yet, despite what has been said about him, his support has always been much more visible than that for the other contenders. He received the highest number of votes from party councillors who ignored outgoing leader Simon Busuttil’s ‘appeal’ when he said that had he been in Dr Delia’s shoes, he would not have run for leadership.
This is the fallout of the last election result. The party hardcore appear to have had enough of Dr Busuttil’s good governance and anti-corruption talk. They want results. They want an electoral victory and Dr Delia has been a convincing speaker.
The problem is that his style is not traditionally Nationalist, which is why he has pitted himself against what he calls the “establishment”. Flanked by bodyguards, he appears to have a natural appeal to the party’s hardcore, to the foot soldiers but maybe not so much to the traditional PN middle class vote. That is his Achilles heel.
Dr Delia may well have the capability of reaching out to Labour and alienated Nationalist voters but his electoral base still comprises all those who endorsed Dr Busuttil’s good governance stance. He presents an opportunity and a problem too.
The questions raised about his past and his connections have not been satisfactorily replied to and nor was the ethics committee, set up to look into Dr Delia’s candidature, satisfied. Media reports that Dr Delia’s London ‘connections’ had also involved the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Chris Cardona, have also raised eyebrows. There are fears Dr Delia may have skeletons in the cupboard that could undermine the PN’s efforts at the eleventh hour.
The PN has a huge task ahead and that’s not just trying to rake back voters who left in droves. It needs to come up with credible alternatives or policy improvements to Labour’s successful economic management that sees the country at full throttle, to the point that getting foreign workers has become a necessity to maintain the growth.
There are obvious casualties on the wayside: the exploding rental market, overdevelopment, the environment, the challenges of high-rise and the emergence of foreign communities in areas like St Paul’s Bay and Qawra.
Malta may be coming out of its isolationist mould. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has promised to make it cosmopolitan but it is already terribly overpopulated. Can the Nationalist Party come up with answers or alternatives to this?
Party renewal, internal structures and unity come second to all of this. They just provide the structures. Once those are in place, the PN needs a vision. Dr Delia looks like he can sell it. But what are the risks he poses?