As the person occupying the Nationalist Party’s centre stage, Simon Busuttil became the main target of blame for the second consecutive massive electoral defeat for the party.

An onslaught on Busuttil was launched soon after the result became known.

Kurt Farrugia, who is paid from people’s taxes as head of government communications, portrayed himself like he was the spokesman for the Labour Party by making personalised attacks intended to denigrate Busuttil in an article in this newspaper, where he depicted him as a weakling.

Farrugia had an axe to grind after criminal inquiries were opened on the initiative of Busuttil, following his testimony in court about alleged cases of corruption that involved the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri, a close ally of Farrugia.

Farrugia is the same person who participated in dealings shrouded in secrecy in Azerbaijan as part of a four-man team that included Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Schembri and Minister Konrad Mizzi.

These dealings resulted in a multi-million tender to Azerbaijan’s Socar Trading SA, the allocation of shares in Malta’s new power station to the same company, and an agreement binding the Maltese government to buy liquefied natural gas for electricity and natural gas exclusively from Azerbaijan for a minimum of 18 years.

Furthermore, on Mizzi’s direction, Enemalta reached a fuel hedging agreement with Socar that was questioned by the Auditor General over incomplete documentation.

Disrespectful comments towards Busuttil were also made by certain party insiders who had never expressed dissatisfation with the party’s leadership before, and even appeared to be enthusiastically supporting Busuttil during the electoral campaign.

A heavy indiscreet attack was unleashed against Busuttil through a post on Facebook by a fellow member of Parliament Mario Galea, who accused his leader of turning the Nationalist Parliamentary Group into a rubber stamp. Although Galea formed part of this group throughout Busuttil’s leadership and could have therefore made his public statement long before, he only decided to open his mouth after securing his parliamentary seat on the PN ticket and after Busuttil announced that he will be stepping down.

Galea who prides himself on being a long-serving MP should have known better than to use the social media to air the party’s dirty linen, when he could have vented his negative feelings within the party’s internal structures.

Busuttil leaves a legacy based on the values of honesty and integrity

In his long-winded rant, Galea alleged that a real clique existed within the party during Busuttil’s leadership, where politically inexperienced newcomers to the party were made gods simply because they got along well with the leader. He added that honest individuals were shunned by the party specifically because of their association with Busuttil’s predecessors Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi.

At the same time, Galea had words of praise for Gonzi, who had included him in his cabinet when he was prime minister. In fact, it looks as if the whole bone of contention was Galea’s perception of having been cast aside during Busuttil’s leadership after having been elevated to parliamentary secretary by Gonzi.

One must not forget that a public perception existed that under Gonzi, the PN was being run by a clique. This conclusion emerges from a report commissioned by the PN to analyse the 2013 election defeat.

Galea went on to accuse his leader of adopting an authoritarian leadership style. His opinion contrasts sharply with that of many who in Busuttil see an authoritative leader capable of making convincing and rational arguments, just as he did when he headed the election campaign team in favour of Malta’s accession to the European Union.

An authoritarian style of leadership has rather been shown by the Prime Minister who denied a free vote in parliament to the Labour Parliamentary Group on three parliamentary motions in connection with secret companies that were opened in Panama by Mizzi and Schembri.

Labour MPs Godfrey Farrugia and Evarist Bartolo voted against the three motions despite saying they would have resigned if they were in Mizzi’s shoes.

Another Labour MP who gave to understand that he would have voted differently had he been given a free vote in parliament was former minister Leo Brincat. When pressed to say why he had failed to back the parliamentary motions of no confidence in Mizzi during his grilling by the EU Parliamentary Committee in connection with his nomination to the European Court of Auditors, Brincat tried to justify his position by claiming that he was not allowed a free vote by Muscat.

When Busuttil became PN leader, he inherited a virtually bankrupt and demoralised party reeling from the impact of a disastrous electoral defeat and not even capable of paying its employees their due salaries. He also inherited a party that had lost a referendum on the divorce legislation with conservative and liberal elements divided on the introduction of civil liberties.

Busuttil’s task was by no means an easy one, but he faced the challenges with strength and determination and under his leadership the party managed to cut its debt and reached a more stable financial footing.

Busuttil also worked to bridge the gap between the different elements within the party and bring it more in line with the new realities, so it could be more accommodating to the aspirations and problems of the people.

Busuttil’s efforts to make the party more liberal on civil rights met considerable resistance from the conservative elements of the party that felt that the party had abandoned its Christian democratic values to look more liberal. At the same time the party lost support from the gay community when its parliamentary group abstained on a Bill granting same-sex couples the opportunity to enter legally-recognised civil unions.

There were also many factors beyond Busuttil’s control that contributed to the party’s electoral defeat, like the desperate use of the power of incumbency by the Labour government to win votes in the weeks before the election, which included the granting of thousands of jobs with State entities and hundreds of absurd promotions.

The outcome of the election certainly does not mean that Busuttil was wrong to stand against corruption.

Busuttil leaves a legacy based on the values of honesty and integrity. After fighting tooth and nail against corruption as leader of the Opposition, he has pledged to keep up his fight for justice as a private citizen once he steps down. His chosen successor is bound to follow his steps and continue putting up a strong fight against corruption.

Denis Tanti is a former assistant director (industrial and employment relations) in the Ministry for Health.