Of criticism and political agendas

I am not a party member and I have never worked in the office of any minister but I can tell when someone has a political agenda.

It seems that Frank Zammit (March 22) has not yet recovered from the trauma of the party leadership. His way of behaviour after that event is that of a bad loser and he is adopting an attitude of "if I do not play I spoil the game." Clearly, it is a case of having an axe to grind.

By joining the Labour Party in his criticism, Mr Zammit is only harming his own party of which he still forms part. I find it abusive for members of the executive committee of a party to go on rampage attacking their party. If the Nationalist Party no longer meets their expectations they should follow the honorable way out and resign.

If the PN is losing ground, as the correspondent claims, this is only because the government is taking unpopular actions to make good for past neglect. It is making tough and responsible decisions to address the huge deficit left over by the former Minister of Finance for whom Mr Zammit worked as secretary. This is the real reason for the government's setback.

To blame Joe Saliba for the party's misfortunes is wrong. Mr Saliba was never a minister and surely could not do anything to influence public opinion. For all I know he was also the architect who won the referendum and the general election.

In spite of the many hurdles that some disgruntled Nationalists are placing before their party leadership, I believe the PN will emerge victorious once again because it is moving in the right direction. It is making the right, though painful, decisions that Malta needs to compete with other countries. Admittedly, at the moment, the government is passing through a wave of discontent but eventually the Maltese will realise the wisdom of these hard decisions when they begin to reap their positive effects in a few years' time. This is what is happening in other countries bigger than us.

My humble advice to John Dalli and Mr Zammit is to stop harming their party and eventually themselves and to integrate once again within the fold as they still have much to give to their party. If they have some disagreement this should be sorted out within the party and not via the media, thus avoiding making a mockery of themselves.