Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1185664
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2019 NEWS 16:24 CCTRADER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY CALAMATTA CUSCHIERI AND IS LICENSED BY THE MFSA. CCTRADER OFFERS DIRECT MARKET ACCESS AND EXECUTION SPEED FOR KNOWLEDGEABLE INDIVIDUALS TRADING AT THEIR OWN INITIATIVE. 25 688 888 cctrader.com The only live trading platform connected to the Malta Stock Exchange Buy & Sell from €9.99 with 24/7 support CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 During the parliamentary group meet- ing, Claudio Grech also called on the party to withdraw its position that Bu- suttil should suspend himself. His call went unheeded. The PN had adopted this position af- ter the Egrant inquiry findings were re- leased last year. The inquiry concluded that allegations made by Maria Efimova and Daphne Caruana Galiza against Muscat and his wife Michelle, were false. Delia had called a press conference and stripped Busuttil of his good govern- ance portfolio and asked him to suspend himself from the party's parliamentary group. Busuttil refused to suspend himself from the party, a decision that was widely supported in the PN parliamen- tary group. But Wednesday's meeting uncovered the frigid relationship between the Bu- suttil camp and the party leader. Delia was snubbed by Busuttil and Ja- son Azzopardi when he invited them to co-sponsor a motion asking for Schem- bri's removal. And it did not stop there because a call by Delia's faithful for the parliamen- tary group to appear united at the Re- pubblika protest was also given the cold shoulder by the Busuttil camp. Last Monday, Schembri ceded a defa- mation case against Busuttil, after he re- fused to testify. He argued that any of his answers on 17 Black would prejudice the magisterial inquiry on the same subject. Subsequently, the PN put forward a parliamentary motion calling on the Prime Minister to remove Schembri from office. all-out war against a popular government, is not an election winner. This is even more so in a con- text where the initial shock of the Panama Papers has waned, to the extent that other revela- tions on 17 Black's ownership – including the link established by Reuters between Schembri and businessman Yorgen Fene- ch – have not had much of an impact on public opinion. The question facing PN stal- warts is whether the lack of outrage is the result of the party being less vocal under Delia or whether this reflects a national mood, which the party has to respond to. Busuttil's main priority seems to be that of vindicating himself and the movement he created before 2017. Delia's, on the oth- er hand, is reaching out to win votes from outside the party's restricted 2017 cohort. Ironically, the more Busuttil is vindicated in his legal battles, the more difficult Delia's bal- ancing act becomes. The current PN leader still has to come up with a coherent nar- rative, which keeps the hawks on board while reaching out to the doves. This has created a paralysis of sorts in the PN. Matters get more complicated because the party still lacks the glue that keeps all political forc- es united – the prospect of win- ning the next general election. As long as the prospects of winning remain dim, MPs may be less willing to surrender their autonomy to the leader. And while the PN remains stuck in its recent past, it cannot ex- ploit the first clear signs of the 10-year itch facing the Labour government, let alone being perceived as a government-in- waiting. Busuttil snubs leader's invitation to co-sponsor Schembri motion