Adrian Delia must go, at least for his sake. His exit from politics is long, long overdue. And you cannot accuse me of saying this because I form part of the conveniently called ‘Busuttil faction’. I am not. I was the one who stuck my neck out and on this same paper wrote that Simon Busuttil had to go (‘Simon Busuttil must go’, June 16, 2017). Back then, the PN was still trying to figure out its worst electoral defeat ever. A change at the helm was inevitable.
Notwithstanding this, that was the time when manoeuvres within the party to glorify the status quo were taking shape. Back then, in the local political arena, Adrian Delia was Mr Nobody. But he was brought in and was democratically elected as party leader. Was it a change in the right direction? The question is so rhetorical that it brings to my mind Churchill’s opinion about democracy.
If there were a hundred and one reasons for Simon Busuttil to leave, there are a thousand and one reasons for Adrian Delia to go. If Simon Busuttil, as leader, ended up a liability for the PN, Adrian Delia proved to be a super liability.
The PN was much better when it was worse. For starters, let’s mention the shady deals in which he was involved in the past – those deals exposed by Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Let us not forget that up till this very day he has not managed to clear his name and has no intentions to do so. He only rebutted by calling her a biċċa blogger – a call which he had to swallow back. He also had the guts to attend a number of events in her tribute even though it was evident that he was not welcome.
What about his mysterious financial situation? He earns less than €3000 monthly and somehow manages a current monthly expenditure of €9000, and without any savings. As a party leader, he should lead by example, but we discover that he was not paying his taxes. And what about the polls? To say the least, they are humiliating.
He failed to unite the PN big time. One might argue that he had so many spokes in his wheels. Even so, the buck stops with him. And to top it all, he was ready to dine with the most corrupt known businessman on the island at the same time that the PN’s cavallo di battaglia against the government was the corruption cases mainly involving this very person! How can he be credible in anything he says?
Adrian Delia should never have entered politics in the first place. He was not prepared for it. He had never planned it or considered it.
Right now, the opposition is nowhere to be seen
If he did, he would have stayed away from dealings which might stay unnoticed outside the political sphere, but which are totally unacceptable when one is considering politics. But he has entered and is now in the worst imaginable mess. However, this is not completely on him.
This is mostly on those who dragged him in – on those who only saw him as a stepping stone for their own good and nothing else. Those who, through their egoism, only wanted to use him to somehow consolidate their untenable position within the PN at all costs. Those who, without any scruples, left him high and dry when they sensed that his ship was sinking.
This is on them. They destroyed the man – morally, financially and professionally. They destroyed his family. But that is not all. Through their actions, they handed the final blow to a party that was already in shambles.
They destroyed a once glorious party. A party which was already in a hole, but which was led to keep on digging without any sign of light at the end of the tunnel.
This is the situation they dragged the party in. It is worse than that. This is the situation they dragged the country in – allowing the Labour government to bulldoze through everything without being checked. Allowing corruption to flourish, to become the order of the day.
The so-called institutions are almost inexistent, and they have failed us. Even the highest ones. Seeing the President of the Republic acting in the way he did, no one would blame us to suspect that even the Head of State is playing within the Labour government’s hands.
In such a situation, the opposition has an extremely important role to play, but right now the opposition is nowhere to be seen.
This whole circle puts the ball back in Delia’s court. All fingers point to him. How is it possible that this intelligent man is not seeing the writing on the wall? Or is it something else which we do not have knowledge of that is keeping him clinging to his seat? We do not know.
What we know is that Adrian Delia is completely defying the obvious. We cannot give him the benefit of the doubt anymore; there are no good intentions in his actions whatsoever.
There is something else. A sort of revenge over the party/people who broke his peaceful and comfortable living, who tarnished him. The “I go down, you go down with me” attitude.
History is being written. It is up to Adrian Delia whether he wants to be remembered for all the wrong reasons or if he wants to pick up the shreds and gain some form of dignity. The only way out for him is to resign, the sooner the better. But he should not stop there.
The honourable way for him is to resign and support the new party leader, whoever he/she might be. And not only that, if he really loves the party he claims that he leads, he should convince his supporters to follow suit.
No one else can do it. That is the only way through which the PN can become relevant again. There is no other way. Think about it: Delia, at this point, through staying on you are only cutting your nose, just to spite your face. All the other damage, intended or not, has been done.
Philip Mifsud, ex-PN MP