It is somewhat ironic that the Nationalist Party – or, rather, Adrian Delia’s beleagured leadership – decided it should do something to, at least, be seen to be addressing the PN’s situation just as the construction industry is going through an overhaul. The parallels between the two ‘reforms’ are striking.
Many fear the construction regulation and enforcement reform ordered by the government was a knee-jerk reaction when roofs and walls started collapsing, endangering not only the lives of workers but also the occupiers of adjacent and nearby buildings.
Stakeholders say they welcome it but, in classical pass-the-buck fashion, they point fingers elsewhere. Even as this supposed ‘reform’ continues – or, rather, starts – the greedy keep finding ways to continue making money, come what may. And the wo/man or entity that will really and truly stop this charade is still to emerge.
No wonder few think anything of essence will come out of this exercise.
The same is happening in Pietà where the walls, roofs and floors of the once solid l-Istamperija – as the PN’s headquarters are usually referred to because of the printing press it used to house in its heyday – are crumbling.
To be fair, the decaying process did not start under Adrian Delia. But if in the past it was a matter of wear and tear it is now the result of the place being rocked right from its foundations.
Just as in the construction industry, at Pietà nobody wants to assume responsibility; they keep passing the buck and pointing fingers. Proving Newton correct that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, the tit-for-tat pitched battles persist within the party, merely underscoring what is now evident to all: the PN is split. Not formally – not yet at least – but certainly de facto, and there is only Dr Delia to blame for that because of his stubborness. The handful of ‘aides’ around him have a lot to answer for but, as leader, Dr Delia has to carry the can.
His behaviour and attitude over the past months keep haunting genuine Nationalist supporters horrified by the thought that a weak, not to say non-existent, Opposition can only empower the government to run roughshod over everybody, including constitutional institutions and, indeed, the rule of law.
They are, therefore, justified when they consider Dr Delia’s latest move with a good degree of suspicion, if not disbelief. He has tasked former PN general secetary and Cabinet minister Louis Galea to lead a reform, a decision that was approved by the party’s executive committee. Dr Galea will also head the party’s Academy for the Development of a Democratic Environment, a think tank.
There can be little doubt that, although coming from the ‘past’, Dr Galea enjoys widespread respect among the grassroots and is also trusted by many of the party’s present officials, possibly incuding some very close to the leader. He is credited with having designed and run a formidable and well-oiled party structure. But he did not do it alone because, under Eddie Fenech Adami, the PN had top-notch elements, with a lot of gray matter between the ears, who were as nationalist as they were Nationalists.
Admittedly, that was a different type of party and leadership. The PN was united, its leader strong and electable, with a clear vision for both the party and the country.
The public announcements made so far by the PN indicate that Dr Galea will be focusing on a party ‘political reform’, presumably dealing with the internal structures and perhaps changes deemed necessary in its statute.
Dr Galea is expected to submit his report within a year but, of course, by then, a lot of water would have flowed under the bridge and if Labour play their cards right – as, indeed, they have been doing – they can inflict even more serious damage on the PN and its terminally weak leader.
Unless otherwise explicitly declared, Dr Galea can by no means be considered as some sort of interim leader of the PN. He is not, and that needs to be kept clearly in mind when the general council meets towards the end of this month.
Which means that, though Dr Galea’s experience can be exploited to ensure l-Istamperija starts to get shipshape again, problems are likely to persist up on the bridge.
This latest move by Dr Delia may be a whitewash exercise to win more time for himself but it is no silver bullet for the PN.