When Eddie Fenech Adami was elected leader of the Nationalist Party he was virtually unknown. He was once described by slain blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia as a “village lawyer”, implying he lacked statesmanship.
Fenech Adami not only turned out to be one of the most accomplished statesmen in this country’s recent political history but he also successfully addressed two huge issues that have again resurfaced.
Fenech Adami had been shouldered with the responsibility of raising a disintegrated and rudderless Nationalist Party in opposition from the ashes and also saving the country from becoming an anarchy and a fiefdom of the corrupt. It was a gargantuan task that had to be handled delicately as the country descended into chaos.
But he succeeded, mainly because he stuck to his own and the party’s principles, ever believing that the truth would prevail.
Bernard Grech finds himself very much in the same situation. And before anybody says that, at least, there is no violence, they need only listen to the reverberations of that powerful blast that killed Caruana Galizia three years ago.
Nobody is comparing Grech with Fenech Adami. Only history can do that. However, he faces issues that are very similar, almost identical, to those the ‘village lawyer’ from Birkirkara had to deal with: a party leader most do not want, a party in complete disarray and a country overtaken by corrupt elements, including in the very top echelons of power.
After convincingly winning the leadership contest last night, Grech’s first challenge is to prove himself, not by word but by deed. It is vital that he translate into practice the principles he has been speaking of.
He needs to prove to the people who voted for him – and to the whole country – that he truly is honest and trustworthy.
He needs to prove to the people who voted for him – and to the whole country – that he truly is honest and trustworthy.
His biggest challenge on this count is not impressing his own supporters but convincing adversaries they were wrong not to trust him. And he must do this quickly by putting into practice the principle of dialogue he so frequently professed and by giving space to the young within the party.
Grech has made three major promises: to unify the party, to modernise it into a progressive movement strengthened by its inclusivity and diversity and to offer a credible vision for the country.
The biggest problem he faces is that many still do not know what he actually stands for. His campaign was built on political rhetoric, lacking any decisive plans or policies.
From today, he must be specific on what he proposes to do on issues like rule of law, social poverty and the environment. Will the PN under Grech become a more left-leaning social democratic party or will it persist in the sometimes right-wing platitudes that Delia championed?
He has no time to lose to make the PN once again a formidable opposition, one that is truly an alternative government, able to take the helm whenever that may happen.
And that could come earlier than many would like to think given the way scandals keep enveloping the Labour government, coupled with the inevitable COVID-19 economic fallout.
To do that, Grech needs to have the best possible people around him, especially young, progressive minds. It is only by having the right set-up that the Nationalist Party can start making inroads, a task where Adrian Delia failed miserably.