One can say many things about former prime minister Joseph Muscat and an objective historical analysis will eventually have to be carried out.

It will be a difficult task because of the extremes the analyst will have to contend with, from the quasi-messianic appeal in the build-up to the 2013 elections to the dramatic and disgraceful collapse of his premiership late last year that destroyed his legacy and permanently tarnished his reputation.

As a keen observer of politics the world over and of political tactics and strategy, if I were to pick one skill Muscat most certainly had in abundance and that he exploited to the full was his ability to manipulate public opinion and events to such an extent that he literally snuffed out any sense of hope within the opposition.

He had the ability to not only snatch the proverbial carpet from under you and cut everyone off at the feet, but he managed to cultivate and encourage a sense of helplessness and hopelessness, which led to a strong sense of apathy and a reluctance to get out of one’s comfort zone.

Muscat knew that he could thrive in such an environment, even if we now know that the country was so much the poorer for it.

Analysing developments within the opposition Nationalist Party over the past three years of Adrian Delia’s leadership, but to be fair even to a lesser extent before Delia’s time, one can easily detect precisely this sense of helplessness and hopelessness within the opposition ranks. Survey after survey clearly showed a total lack of belief and a sense of inevitability in the party’s destiny to be wiped out at the next national polls.

One could detect a total sense of apathy and a hope, even a wish, for the party to be so severely beaten at the polls that it would render a full and total overhaul inevitable, if not its demise and the emergence of a totally new political force.

However, as the old adage goes, a week is a long time in politics. Fast forward just a few weeks and the Nationalist Party’s future is suddenly back in focus.

The defeatist comment one always came across was that the country is Labour. No matter what, nothing will change! Suddenly people are understanding that the current government’s errors in relation to the second COVID-19 wave will cost our economy very dearly, which means lower wages, unemployment, rising risk of poverty and business closures.

It is also dawning on people that the alleged criminality allowed to fester and take root in government will negatively impact their livelihood, if Malta’s reputation continues its downward spiral and if we don’t avert the possible grey or black-listing of our country.

On a practical level, people are realising that this is not only a matter of Malta’s listing with Moneyval but also how our deteriorating reputation impacts the attitude of international banks with respect to business from or with Malta.

People have understood that financial services, gaming, blockchain, artificial intelligence, maritime and several other businesses cannot thrive, or even exist, if Malta is cut off from the international banking world. Yet it is facing just that and in most cases it is already a done deal.

If you couple that with the atrocious manner in which ‘local’ banks are handling international business these days, the future is extremely bleak.  

All this has inevitably rendered the Nationalist Party relevant again, but that alone is not enough. Becoming relevant again by default, because of other people’s messes, is not enough and is not the hope and the light at the end of the tunnel that people need.

Belief in a viable future for the Nationalist Party has taken root again- David Griscti

The PN cannot bank on the errors of others to become relevant. It needs to become relevant and appealing in its own right. It needs to inspire confidence and it needs to offer hope, real hope, for a brighter future and a better quality of life. People need to believe in it again.

It is precisely what Bernard Grech and his candidacy for the forthcoming Nationalist Party leadership election seems to have brought to the table. Belief in a viable future for the Nationalist Party has taken root again.

This is palpable and continues to emerge each passing day. Suddenly people seem to be rallying round again. A sense of hope and even excitement has emerged and the negative and defeatist atmosphere has been punctured by a belief that there is a way out after all, that unity is possible and that perhaps Labour’s appeal is not as impregnable and solid as Muscat made it out to be.

Belief is a curious thing. Some will say that one can only have belief in something spiritual. Others will tell you that belief has to be backed up by hard facts. I have a different view. Belief is a state of mind. It is a strong and positive sense of being.

Belief runs in the blood and it filters through the heart. I reckon it is the foundation of a positive sense of purpose and the fuel that can defy the impossible and succeed.

My analysis of Grech’s candidacy and impact so far is that he has fostered and injected a powerful and positive belief in the PN and in many who had lost hope in it. He has simplified what appeared to be convoluted and byzantine.

He lit a flame of hope for a better, brighter and fairer future. His simple, direct and inclusive approach hit a chord and suddenly reignited what was a spent force.

Grech has given the PN belief again and belief is truly powerful and the bedrock of good things to come. Perhaps it was what was needed.

What is certain from the past few weeks is that belief is infectious and a cleanser. Indeed, belief is liberating.

Giving Grech a chance to nurture that belief into an inspiring and aspirational political proposition is now in the hands of the PN’s members. 

David Griscti is former AŻAD president.