Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1172208
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 SEPTEMBER 2019 on was abrupt and easily spun by Labour as his submission to an assertive partner, albeit un- fairly. The optics of the Farrugia couple did not help Godfrey either: in various newsreels, the gallant Godfrey is seen kowtowing to the confident Marlene, providing much grist for the Labour mill when Mar- lene is seen ordering Godfrey away from a journalist because the couple are late for the par- liamentary sitting, asking him to switch off the oven during a press conference at the cou- ple's Zebbug house, or order- ing him to "stay strong" as he broke down in tears as he is welcomed to the PN headquar- ters when he resigned from La- bour. Marlene Farrugia's own daz- zling career – starting off from the PN, then becoming a La- bour MP, and then 'return- ing' to the PN in the form of a coalition, provided fodder to Joseph Muscat's 'coalition of confusion' narrative. Even Si- mon Busuttil could not control Marlene in press conferences. Once the election was over Far- rugia could not resist the temp- tation of interfering in the PN's internal affairs, initially hinting at an interest in the leadership and then asking her candidates to stand in casual elections trig- gered by Jean Pierre Debono's resignation intended to allow Delia to take a seat as leader of the Opposition. Subsequently Farrugia took a back seat with the more moder- ate Godfrey Farrugia eventually taking the party's leadership. But by then, the party had al- ready been forged in his part- ner's mercurial image. Lacking an identity Marlene Farrugia's opposi- tion to the morning-after pill and Godfrey Farrugia's staunch pro-life stance alienated liber- als from the party. Ironically on the eve of MEP elections one of the party's candidates, Cami Appelgren, found herself on the other end of the stick allegedly being threatened by pro-lifers for her liberal stance. The PD issued a confusing statement intended to mark the party's pro-life stance but clearly mo- tivated by Appelgren's liberal stance. The party also failed to leave a mark on social policy while it competed with AD and in- dependent candidate Arnold Cassola in securing the green vote in an overcrowded third party field. The only silver lin- ing for the party was the rela- tively successful performance of its Swedish-born candidate who projected a more pro-ac- tive and liberal image. But by upstaging the PD's own leader, Appelgren exposed the limited appeal of the Farrugia couple in the new scenario. Ultimately third parties acting on their own steam depend on projecting a clear image with which minorities can identify. In coalition with the PN, the PD could afford to be a bland, catch-all party. But all alone the party had to secure loyalty of a dedicated cohort of voters. No appeal for Labour voters Despite Muscat's drift to neo- liberalism, the PD failed to pro- ject itself as a left-leaning party which could attract Labour voters. While the anti-Labour strategy worked when in coa- lition with the PN, it fumbled when the party faced the pros- pect of facing the two behe- moths. Instead of taking votes from disgruntled Labour voters, the PD found itself competing in a crowded field for the shrink- ing PN vote. In MEP elections where voters do not even have to choose the country's govern- ment, the party failed to come any close to electing an MEP, retaining the same vote count it garnered in the 2017 election. The Daphne crowd preferred Casa and Metsola The brutal assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia gal- vanised a protest movement, which stands as a reference point for PN activists alien- ated by present leader Adrian Delia. As the standard bearers of the Forza Nazzjonali legacy, the PD tried to present itself as the natural alternative for these voters. Yet in MEP elections these voters were more likely to support the re-election of Da- vid Casa and Roberta Metsola than shifting their allegiance to a new party. Moreover, its association with Caruana Galizia's own divisive legacy may well have further alienated support from Labour. ANALYSIS PARTIT DEMOKRATIKU Rollercoaster ride irrelevance: the and the PD Marlene 'Forza Nazzjonali' deal, the PD candidates would be nicknamed 'tal-Orangjo' on the ballot sheet but still be considered as PN candidates Sobs all round as the freshly resigned Labour whip Godfrey Farrugia enters the PN headquarters, greeted by his counterpart David Agius, right before the 2017 elections; below, the 'pro-life power couple' try to get their party's act in order (by Mark Scicluna), and Mikiel Galea's cartoon of Simon Busuttil announcing the Forza Nazzjonali cartoon