Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1011650
16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 AUGUST 2018 INTERVIEW From an outsider's perspective, the PN seems to be split into two warring parties: one led by Adrian Delia, and a rebel faction supporting Simon Busuttil. 'Quo vadis, Partit Nazzjonalista?' Where does the PN go from here? I wouldn't say that there is a split between two parties; but there are still circumstances, from before the last general elec- tion, that remain unresolved. Starting with the most obvious: the change in leadership. The new leader took over when the PN was already facing serious financial challenges. He has to rebuild the party's organisation from scratch. He also has to talk about his own vision: his own ideological 'quo vadis', the slant he wants to give the party. Add- ing to that, on top of all the work that needs to be done, in the last months the issue of Egrant has once again surfaced. This is certainly not an issue connected to the present leadership: but it has serious implications for this leadership too; because we ex- ist today, and therefore, yes, this creates moments of difficulty – challenges that have to be re- solved, in the best interests of the party and country, without focusing on individuals. Because otherwise, we will remain stuck in a bubble, and we won't be able to move forward... But the PN is stuck in a bubble. Delia asked Busuttil to resign; and Busuttil – the former leader who hitched the party to Egrant in the first place – refuses to go. How can the PN detach itself from Egrant, under these circumstances? A year ago, there was an elec- tion, which had been called early precisely because of the Egrant allegation. The Prime Minister at the time called for a magisterial inquiry [...] and the magistrate, who enjoyed the trust of all par- ties, reached certain conclusions: i.e., that Egrant did not belong to whom it was alleged to have belonged. To this day we don't know exactly whose it was; but we know that the magistrate found no proof to establish it be- longed to [Michelle Muscat]. Actually, the magistrate found more than just that. He also found evidence that the declaration of trust had been falsified. That is evidence of a crime having been committed... Yes, and in fact that makes mat- ters worse. This was a fabrica- tion. And as a party, we feel we have respect for the institutions; respect for the magistrate; and we need to accept the conclu- sions of that inquiry. Fullstop. But that's not what's happening, is it? [...]Along with that inquiry, there were others that are still ongoing. There are other cases. This was said from day one: we still don't know the full extent of what happened [...] In the past few days we even had the dep- uty prime minister coming out and saying: 'Listen, don't be too quick to claim victory on those two accounts [Hearnsville and Tillgate], because there are still ongoing inquiries'. Now: to an- swer your original question – I am convinced that the National- ist party had a lot of valid points it could have used, but it made a mistake – definitely a mistake from a strategy perspective. It reminds me of the fable of the dog with a bone in its mouth, which saw its own reflection in the water, and thought that 'the other dog' had a bigger bone... and therefore dropped the bone it had in its mouth. It's a good analogy... But that's what happened in the past. From now on, what should happen? How are we going to safeguard the credibility of our party? At the end of the day, the PN does not only have an obliga- tion towards itself. It has an ob- ligation towards the country. If there is no serious Opposition, then this government will really keep steamrolling over every- body. And credibility is... I don't want to say 'it's more important than the truth'; but it is, almost. Because people act on what they believe, not necessarily on the truth. What I'm saying, then, is that our credibility as a party – not mine as Clyde Puli, or Adrian Delia's, or Simon Busuttil's – the party's credibility has to remain intact. [....] When it comes to our credibility: we have to say, yes, political responsibility must be shouldered. And the PN shoul- dered its responsibility... Hold on: 'the PN shouldered its responsibility'? When? How? We shouldered responsibility by accepting the magistrate's re- port. That's not how it looks to me. Adrian Delia said he accepted it; but almost half his party disagreed... I don't think that's the case. [...] Adrian Delia took the deci- sion he had to take, i.e., that he stripped Simon Busuttil of the good governance portfolio [...] Now: consider the difference be- tween Adrian Delia and Joseph Muscat. If [Busuttil] was a min- ister, he would have lost his port- folio. Isn't that right? But isn't that the exact same excuse used by Muscat to retain Konrad Mizzi at the very start? He stripped him of the energy portfolio... Not quite; he changed his port- folio... it was a game of musical chairs. In our case, there were no musical chairs. [Delia] stripped [Busuttil] of his portfolio. He wasn't given another... Busuttil was removed from the shadow cabinet, and Mizzi was retained as a Cabinet minister. There's a world of difference between the two cases... All the same, Busuttil is still in the parliamentary group. Given how much the PN invested, under his leadership, in an issue we know was based on a fabrication.... shouldn't he resign from the party? The reality is that Simon Busut- til made some mistakes. But let's be honest: it's not as though he opened an account in Panama. It's not as serious as the case of a minister who opened an unde- clared overseas account... Really? Some might argue it's more serious. It could be interpreted as an attempt to overthrow a government, and destabilise the country, on the basis of what has turned out to be – in your own words – a fabrication. That's a crime against democracy. I get the impression you are trying to minimise the seriousness of the issue... No, I'm not minimising the se- riousness. But I don't think it's as you suggest. If you tell me, 'an error of judgment', I'd agree. But I don't think there was the crimi- nal intent to destabilise the coun- try. If anything, Busuttil adopted someone else's story... But it was a story intended to overthrow Muscat's The outcome of the Egrant inquiry has severely impacted the Nationalist Party; resulting in an apparent split that threatens to tear it apart. PN secretary-general CLYDE PULI argues that the only way forward is to abandon the 'old way' of doing politics Egrant was 'devastating' Raphael Vassallo This was a fabrication. And as a party, we feel we have respect for the institutions; respect for the magistrate; and we need to accept the conclusions of that inquiry. Fullstop rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt