Like 007, Adrian Delia keeps dodging the bullets. But unlike James Bond, the impact of what he does is not felt by the PN alone but also by the country he serves.
Two events in recent days provide the backdrop. In a questionable decision, President George Vella ruled that Delia should formally remain recognised as opposition leader. Then, on Tuesday evening, the PN’s executive committee passed a second vote of no-confidence in the leader in the space of a few days, the first being that taken by his parliamentary group.
The next steps that the party organs take could decide Delia’s fate as party leader or conceivably split the party.
Although the focus has been on the PN’s in-fighting, at stake is the healthy political functioning of the country. With less than two years to go to a general election, there are three possible scenarios: one, Delia stays in place as PN leader until the next election: two, the PN splits into two parties; three, Delia resigns or loses a new leadership contest and is replaced.
Given the party’s arcane rules, which appear to be open to interpretation on whether another vote of confidence in Delia can be taken, as well as the understandable reluctance of those who have rebelled against his leadership to precipitate the PN’s break-up, it is still a possibility that Delia will lead PN into the next election. On present polling, this would have dire consequences, with Labour likely to obtain a two-thirds majority in parliament.
The second scenario – a party split between about two thirds of the parliamentary party and the rump of about one third of MPs still loyal to Delia – would cause national concern about the democratic consequences of an ineffective parliamentary opposition. In the short term, this too would spell electoral disaster for the PN, especially if Abela seized the opportunity to call an early election.
It is the third scenario, a ‘new PN’ with a new leader, that would be the most beneficial outcome from a national perspective. A new face would offer a lifeline for the party around which both traditional and Delia wings could eventually rally. And it would provide the best hope of strengthening the enfeebled opposition.
It is in the national interest that Delia should be persuaded to depart, not least because of his proven inability over the last three years to capture the nation’s imagination by persuading it that he leads a government-in-waiting. The PN’s executive committee, and party heavyweights Lawrence Gonzi, Tonio Borg and Louis Galea, have now added their moral authority to the righteous effort by MPs to push him out. It remains to be seen whether this will finally persuade Delia to reconsider his position.
The party already has a leader-of-the-opposition-in-waiting. Therese Comodini Cachia represents a new PN generation. She has shown political courage in offering to step into the breach caused by Delia’s patent inability to win the support of all wings of the party. She has demonstrated the personality and determination to succeed. Her straight talking, espousal of just causes and lack of baggage have the potential to capture the electoral imagination.
Whoever it turns out to be, it is in the nation’s interest that the once-great Nationalist Party should find a leader who is viable in the next election. That it has come as far as it now has down this path can only be taken as a good sign. It may have caught sight of its potential comeback.