That is the crude reality. We write these thoughts with a heavy heart, during the week in which the fate and future existence of the Nationalist Party are literally at stake.
Adrian Delia is a nice person to chat with. He is an even nicer person when socialising at social events. He has a knack for cracking jokes. Loquacious. Parola facile, as the Italians would say. By no means a pushover in the court room when he pleaded cases.
But he is no consummate politician. No gravitas, no high moral ground, no strategic thinking, no political nous. This explains why Delia often shoots himself in the foot.
We cringe in embarrassment when we recall his dastardly decision – spurred by some of his closest ‘advisors’ with axes to grind – to dismiss Simon Busuttil, a former party leader, a mere two hours after Joseph Muscat’s theatrical (Egrant) press conference last July. That was one year ago, almost to the day.
Without having read the whole Egrant inquiry report, he relied on, and thus colluded with, Muscat, on a mere 50 pages from a dossier of more than 1,500 pages.
Like a bull in a china shop, he charged and took the bait laid by Muscat hook, line and sinker.
In the process he alienated thousands of PN voters who had flooded the Fosos two years ago to follow Busuttil’s rallying call to fight corruption in one of the most memorable mass meetings the PN has ever held. Delia’s decision drove a trenchant wedge within the bowels of the PN. And to add insult to injury, one year on, Delia called his own decision ‘rushed’ – “affrettata”.
In a judgment last October, the Court of Magistrates expressed dismay that the Education Minister did not call in the police when faced with corruption allegations.
The court said it failed to understand why, once informed, the police charged the person making the claims with defamation rather than probe the bribery claims.
One would have thought that the Opposition would have raised hell in the face of such a damning judgment.
We waited with bated breath for the Opposition, for our party, to react, to speak out. But to this very day the PN has remained silent on this unprecedented condemnation by the courts of a sitting minister. Not even a press release was issued.
After struggling in court for two long years to open a criminal investigation into the disgusting corruption exposed in the Panama Papers, last April another magistrate upheld the request for Muscat’s closest colleagues – Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi – to face investigation for corruption and money laundering.
They are being investigated for allegedly planning to pocket a mind-blowing €5,000 a day, or €150,000 a month, or €2,000,000 a year, from none other than the owner of the new power station.
Why is it that the Labour media relentlessly attacked Eddie Fenech Adami, Lawrence Gonzi and Simon Busuttil but blatantly defends Adrian Delia?
Where was the PN when the court gave this ruling? Nowhere. Silent. Zilch.
Last week, yet another magistrate upheld Repubblika’s request for three sitting ministers – Edward Scicluna, Chris Cardona and again, Konrad Mizzi – to be investigated for money laundering, fraud, conspiracy and corruption.
We are lost for words trying to describe our feelings at the PN’s umpteenth complete silence.
The moment Delia demands resignations, he will be met with an ear-piercing retort: look who’s talking!
Here is the brutal truth: the moment Delia demands resignations, he will be met with an ear-piercing retort: look who’s talking! Because of this albatross around our party’s neck, we cannot act, we cannot speak, we cannot move on. We are totally ineffective.
PN voters and councillors break their hearts and cringe in embarrassment seeing Delia constantly being defended by the Labour Party and its media.
A few days after last May’s historic defeat, l-Orizzont ran not one but two editorials blatantly calling for Delia to stay, and shooting at his critics. Labour MPs in Parliament and on social media have also made it embarrassingly clear they want him to stay. The PL media studiously avoid him.
Compare this to the treatment meted out to Delia’s predecessors by the Labour media. Think about it, honestly: why is it that the Labour media relentlessly attacked Eddie Fenech Adami, Lawrence Gonzi and Simon Busuttil but blatantly defends Adrian Delia?
Why is it that the Labour media is still pouring venom on Busuttil on a daily basis when the PN leader is Delia? Why is it that the Labour media attacks even other PN MPs but not their Party leader?
Surely, there must be something very wrong in this. Surely it must be because Labour knows that with Delia at the helm, they are in for a certain victory.
I invite you to ask yourself: do we really want our party to continue to be led by someone who is going to lead us to an unprecedented defeat in 2022 and probably a two-thirds Labour majority in Parliament? Labour Party delegates shouted Delia’s name at the Naxxar counting hall and they banged on the perspex after the announcement of the PL’s rout of the PN last May. This cannot re-repeated.
We cannot imagine that PN councillors can, in their heart of hearts, vote to help the Labour Party.
If we want the PN to be credible, we need to have a credible leader.
We need to recognise that our own emperor has no clothes. We can do that with our vote on Saturday.
The authors are members of the Nationalist Party General Council.