A year into Adrian Delia’s leadership, the Nationalist Party doubtlessly has a long way to go before convincing enough voters that it offers a better alternative to Joseph Muscat’s Labour government. The polls show that the gap between the two parties is huge.
Last year’s PN leadership battle was a divisive one, with Dr Delia narrowly elected by 53 per cent of party members. Party unity was therefore the obvious priority for the new PN leader.
He started well by appointing his predecessor, Simon Busuttil, to the post of spokesman on good governance. Two months ago, however, in the wake of the publication of the Egrant inquiry conclusions, he made an ill-advised request for Dr Busuttil to suspend himself as a PN MP.
After an internal backlash and mediation efforts by former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, Dr Delia withdrew his suspension request. Only time will tell how much long-lasting damage was done to the party by this episode. The Times of Malta has also exposed Dr Delia’s reluctance to assemble the entire parliamentary PN group for regular meetings, surely another sign of deep disunity within the party.
The pro-and anti-Delia factions only have one realistic option: to reach out to one other. Voters hate divided parties and will not elect them, irrespective of their policies.
Dr Delia would be well-advised to include a wider range of PN MPs and officials in his inner circle, not only those who openly supported him in his leadership race. At the same time, those who opposed him need to show a willingness to join forces with him – after all, it’s for the good of the party and country.
It is only when the party makes genuine progress towards coherence that the bulk of voters will be willing to consider its policy proposals. Dr Delia’s comment at the start of last week’s PN independence anniversary celebrations, namely, “Let Labour leave, and then I will tell you what my proposals are”, verged on the bizarre. It is obvious that the electorate needs to know what it is voting for.
Dr Delia, however, did touch on the PN’s policies during his keynote speech during a party mass meeting at the Floriana Granaries last Thursday evening. There is no doubt he wants to put the spotlight on those who have not benefitted from Malta’s economic boom. He spoke about people unable to afford decent housing, who live in garages, and about the emergence of two Maltas: rich and poor. “Nobody must be left behind,” he stressed.
He is, of course, absolutely right. But the PN will have to go much further than this. It has not even begun the task of convincing people that it has the right mix of economic and fiscal policies.
Dr Delia also criticised the government for lack of planning regarding its policy to encourage thousands of foreign nationals to settle in Malta. This, he said, has implications for Malta’s infrastructure, housing and security.
Again, he is right to question whether our infrastructure and society can take this sudden huge influx of foreign residents, something the Malta Employers’ Association has done before him. However, he needs to pay closer attention to his choice of words, especially when talking about “foreigners” in the context of migration. “The Nationalist Party will never refrain from saving people [i.e. migrants in distress at sea] but we need to protect our territory and our Maltese identity,” he told the mass meeting. What exactly did he mean by that?
It would be very tempting to veer towards the populist right in an attempt to win votes. This would backfire and lose the party its liberal support. Addressing supporters, Dr Delia also made the ridiculous, and insulting, claim that some women get pregnant in order to claim welfare benefits. Would Eddie Fenech Adami, Lawrence Gonzi or Simon Busuttil have ever made such a statement? Who is advising Dr Delia?
He touched on the sad state of the environment and the erosion of the rule of law in Malta. He could and should have said much more about these two crucial issues with long-term implications for Malta’s future quality of life, economic well-being and international reputation.
If the PN wants to narrow the gap with Labour, Dr Delia needs to stick to the political centre, get better advisers, reach out to his opponents within the party, become a champion of the environment, carry on his predecessor’s crusade on the rule of law, firmly put residents’ quality of life before that of developers, continue to speak out in favour of those who feel left behind in Malta’s economic cycle and come out with clear, concrete proposals on how a future PN government would manage sustainable economic growth.
The time is now; otherwise there may never be a time.
This is a Times of Malta print editorial