The new leadership trio of the Nationalist Party is in place and, presumably, all set to go.
After a gruelling leadership election that saw Adrian Delia emerge winner and a lacklustre election campaign for his deputies, David Agius and Robert Arrigo, the party leaders may now start picking up the pieces.
Given the recent survey results, the PN is in a much worse state than it was at the June election, where it got a second thumping.
Delegates and party members went for a new face, a complete unknown in the world of politics, indicating a desire to break from the past completely. Dr Delia appeared to fit the bill. He promised a new way of doing politics. He appeared to bring back energy to the party but it did not last long.
Daphne Caruana Galizia turned her guns on him, fired much salvo but not enough to stop his rise. He sued her and used harsh words but apologised when she was killed.
From a purely partisan point of view, her death could have been a great opportunity for the new leader. But he could not join, let alone lead, the uproar against her assassination. He did not attend a protest against her murder because reportedly fellow MPs would not walk alongside him. The rumblings grew louder and there was talk of internal dissent. The vote in Parliament on the IVF motion last week can only confirm that.
Ms Caruana Galizia’s car bomb murder is Dr Delia’s biggest problem because it brought the rule of law back on the national agenda. His predecessor, Simon Busuttil, had made that his main political platform and lost. Belatedly, though, Dr Busuttil is being proved right.
Dr Delia is caught between picking up Dr Busuttil’s gauntlet and launching his ‘new way’, which some fear, not without good reason, that it may well be as populist as the Labour agenda.
PN supporters expect his platform to differ from Labour’s. He may have the charisma to make inroads into Labour strongholds but he has still not garnered the essential support of many traditional, middle-class Nationalist voters. The surveys reflect that and are turning the Prime Minister into a superstar.
Evidently, Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder has done the PN more harm than it did to Labour.
If the new leader ever hopes to succeed, he must give convincing replies to the allegations made by Ms Caruana Galizia and reach out to her many readers who are disillusioned Nationalist supporters. Only by offering the same values as his predecessor can Dr Delia possibly win them back.
He must further extend those values to other areas that Dr Busuttil did not address. He has to bring back hope to a people overrun by unbridled economic success, by environmental degradation and a collapse in societal values. To do that he will need to integrate the old way into his new way.
Glossy slogans may work for Labour but, as the opinion polls show, Nationalists can be more discerning and, sometimes, unforgiving.
Dr Delia did not hit the ground running. His first real challenge will be at the European Parliament and local council elections in 2019. It will be at that point that the promised ‘new way’ will be put to the test. A poor showing then would mean the PN would have to move again, fast.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial