A number of well-intentioned citizens are feeling that the Nationalist Party has crossed the fictional Vantasner Danger Meridian, namely the line after which danger to one’s mission increases exponentially. These fellow citizens gave up and will wait for the inexorableness of the 2024 elections. They are disappointed, concerned but, above all, hurt.
Well, I think some pain is not necessarily bad.
Actually, Diogenes is reputed to have believed that a philosopher who does not hurt anybody’s feelings is useless.
In that spirit, this piece will upset some readers, will give hope to others and will make the rest feel uneasy at worst or indifferent at best.
I also feel that studying the past might save the future.
In 1987, a handful of politicians and intellectuals came up with the famous ‘L-għoxrin punt tagħna: il-futur tiegħek mal-PN’ manifesto (Our 20 points: your future with the PN). Those principles were the epitome of a grander and deeper political revolution that would transform our polis into a modern liberal democracy and economy. Nothing of what was achieved afterwards would have been possible without those ideas.
These 20 points were not only an ideological statement but also irrefutably a roadmap towards the common good.
Correspondingly, a vision is needed before the PN embarks on any national governance-seeking project. This outlook is just a reasoned opinion, written in the cogent shade of the aforementioned 20 points – nothing else.
Here it is:
1. The imperative need for engaging professional consultants (possibly foreign) in order to draw up a communication strategy and, at the same time, coordinating with a small internal communications and political strategy team.
2. The setting up and organisation of what I have elsewhere called ‘ConventionPN’ - a broad national intellectual platform - to elucidate the ideological way forward for the PN.
3. The curbing of the financial problem through one of or a combination of the following: sale, leasing out and/or four-dimensional reorganisation of the PN headquarters together with the setting up of commercial entities by the PN itself, possibly and in parallel with a careful decentralisation of all political activity.
4. The urgent need for rebranding but not necessarily in a formal manner.
5. The pressing and impellent need for a counter-troll strategy – social media strategy appears necessary.
6. The need for a broad-spectrum restructuring of MediaLink – including rethinking of the whole concept of the printed and broadcasted content and format.
7. The implementation of a structured and functional customer care network.
8. The setting up of an appropriate human resources department.
9. A compulsory AŻAD area-specific training for all those involved within the PN: from leader to any volunteer.
The PN still commands the followership of tens of thousands of voters- Alan Xuereb
10. Systematic political education coordinated by AŻAD for all those leading the party such as the leader, the secretary general etc., including management styles and rhetoric.
11. Securing even closer ties with the EPP, CDU, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the like – no party is an island.
12. The setting up of a specialised ‘ScuderiaPN’ or leadership academy. Leaders create leaders. The PN needs to think ahead, not just for five years at a time.
13. A proper regularly functioning political-social-economic think tank – (possibly with a permanent core and also with revolving members according to expertise).
14. The reduction of overexposure. Restraining the craving for media exposure, particularly of the leader who should not at all address the public unless (s)he has something of importance to say.
15. With regard to surveys and polls – the need to be as exact as possible. Not being prepared for colossal defeats, at best, looks unprofessional if not deceiving.
16. With regard to mass activities – the need for shorter and slicker speeches.
17. The need of a counterintelligence unit – everyone appears to know what is internally being discussed in real time.
18. The need for a strong and motivated legal team.
19. The realisation that hunting, cannabis, LGTBQ and divorce issues are now legal issues not political tactical themes.
20. The need within the PN to have a corporate culture, which is less emotional, nostalgic and powwow and more business-like.
Undeniably, I am not privy to the inner workings of the PN and any one or more of these points may already be works-in-progress or in the offing. Nevertheless, the PN unquestionably stands at a crossroads and not only ideologically.
Has it become irrelevant, as some have opined?
Certainly not – it still commands the followership of tens of thousands of voters and has shown, albeit randomly – if not erratically – that it can still take a unified and significant stand on matters that count.
The numbness or disinterest (some would say disenchantment) of the Maltese electorate, blinded by short-term gain and populist artifices, is not helping.
Hence, my unassuming suggestion for the PN to embrace introspection in order to take Malta back to the future.
Alan Xuereb is a lawyer linguist.