The confusion the Nationalist Party finds itself in and the reason why it is losing ground seems to have been triggered because of a Malta Today survey which showed that support for Adrian Delia has reached rock bottom.
In an interview on Xarabank when confronted with such facts, Delia retorted: “The PN is owned by its members. The party is led by its statute, not by surveys”. “If we remove a party leader for every survey, our political system would not work,” Delia asserted.
Such reasoning is very valid. Though surveys show trends and one needs to take them into account they shouldn’t be considered the do or die for every situation.
The state of the Nationalist Party today is the result of apathy and inaction that has been going on for the past couple of years.
From the day he was appointed leader of the PN in 2017, Delia was aware of the problems and friction that existed within the party. It was his duty from day one to see that things did not escalate and that structures were in place to subdue and, where possible, eradicate any form of internal conflict. It is obvious this doesn’t seem to have happened.
Last summer, after the dismal results in the European Parliament and local council elections, Delia had to win a confidence vote to stay on. He subsequently asked Louis Galea to assess the party and recommend ways for it to be reformed.
The disastrous results in these elections aroused anger and disappointment among PN supporters. Mark Anthony Sammut resigned as president of the Nationalist Party executive committee hoping others would follow suit. Pierre Portelli, chairman of Media.Link, the PN’s media wing, had also offered his resignation in June 2019. In his resignation letter, Portelli, already then, spoke about the constant coordinated attack on the party by some MPs.
“The past 20 months have been marred with daily struggles, fire-fighting elements within the PN who insist they have a divine right to lead and control the party and its media platforms,” Portelli wrote.
The resistance to change the status quo has been going on for too long
These warning shots had been fired and yet, it seems, things had been left to linger and prolong. Today similar feelings are being echoed by Robert Arrigo, the PN deputy leader and Clyde Puli, the PN general secretary, who both offered their resignations recently.
Arrigo blamed the parliamentary group of making “everybody’s life miserable” during what he described as 30 dismal months. Puli in his resignation letter remarked: “I did not expect that, with every step forward I made, there would be someone tripping me up and kicking me at the ankles so that afterwards they would accuse me of not running fast enough”.
One asks, how could people validly elected to such posts, under existing statutes, find themselves in such uncomfortable situations while trying to perform their duties? How is it possible that a party structured to work effectively and efficiently has been hindered to do so because of the attitudes and undermining of a selected few?
Even Louis Galea, entrusted to make the necessary reforms, complained that he found resistance. In a recent letter to Delia, Galea indicated that over the past two months, his push for reform had been met with “resistance, ambivalence and foot dragging”.
No amount of structures or statutes can bring about the necessary changes unless there is a change in mentality. This was emphasised by MP Edwin Vassallo in a political activity in Mellieħa when he said “the biggest reform is not the statute but a change in mentality”.
The resistance to change the status quo has been going on for too long. Though, as Delia pointed out at the same political activity, the problem lies with those who are continuously putting spokes in the wheel, the fact that the problem is still there and has become worse lies entirely in Delia’s hands.
Even Arrigo, in his resignation letter to Delia, though putting the blame mainly on the parliamentary group, accused his leader of “non-action”.
“You also have your big responsibility. I am irritated at your non-action on situations. The people want proposals, direction, answers and clarity,” Arrigo asserted.
Structures and statutes are at the service of the party. They exist in order to facilitate change and bring about the necessary transformations to achieve the desired aim and mission. We seem to blame structures and bureaucracy when change is slow or not implemented at all. But what about the people behind the structures?
What about those who are undermining the whole process of change?
Surveys can be carried out, structures and statutes reformed, people may resign, but unless there are the right people with the same vision and a leader who, in spite of conflicts, is able to bring conflicting parties together and inspire one and all with a vision and mission that looks into the future, no amount of change can bring about the desired success.