Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1197486
25 OPINION 'nergghu insiru ahwa Maltin' slogan. Lawrence Gonzi com- mitted himself to a 'new way of doing politics', away from the tribal divisions of old. Joseph Muscat urged us all to 'love one another' upon becoming Prime minister in 2013… and my, just look how that went in the end… while Alfred Sant implied national unity with his 'he is who is not against us, is with us' pre-electoral mantra. I'll leave history to judge the result of their efforts; but from my own perspective, every one of those former (or soon-to- be-former) prime ministers belied their stated intentions in one way or another; other- wise, we quite frankly wouldn't still be such a divided nation today. So it would be unrealistic to expect anything different from Chris Fearne – or Robert Abela, for that matter: who also raised hackles with his 'tolerance of protests' remark – when, like all contenders for the throne, they are ultimately reciting from the same old script we're all used to anyway. But there is another aspect to this particular paradox; one which also helps explain pre- cisely why this blessed national unity ambition has always proved so elusive. The stark fact of the matter is that Chris Fearne hasn't won the Labour leadership election yet; and my gut feeling tells me he is nowhere near as confi- dent as his public appearances suggest. Let's look at his second pre- diction again. "if the Labour Party has faith in me to lead the country, my priority will be to unite the nation". There is a rather explicit clause in that contract: before being able to take decisions on a national platform, Chris Fearne has to first win over the confidence of the Labour Party rank and file. And to be honest, he wasn't making much of an effort before that 'RIPN' comment this week. All his former public state- ments had been geared in the direction of 'repairing Malta's damaged reputation', and addressing all the problems dogging our rule-of-law situ- ation: both of which are tacit acknowledgements that the present Labour government had screwed up… and screwed up badly. Conversely, he also claimed to be in an optimal position to understand the dilemma fac- ing the Labour electorate as a result of all the recent political revelations. In an interview with his newspaper he claimed to have his finger on the pulse of the party grassroots: "I have been in the Labour Party for 40 years […] I know exactly how Labourites are feeling; they are hurt, betrayed… and also afraid. We remember what happened in 1996-8; and many are asking, 'Are we La- bourites not capable of doing a single five-term in govern- ment…?'" Presumably, then, he should also know that the one thing the Labour crowd most keenly wants to hear right now, is reassurance that… no, actually: things aren't as bad as 1998 – when the collapse of the Sant administration's condemned the Labour Party to another 15 years in Opposition. And yes, the winning streak of the past seven years can still be projected into the future… indefinitely, even. It isn't even that difficult, either: all it takes is the utter annihilation of the Nationalist Party (what else?) Something tells me that that – and not self-flagellating 'mea culpas' – is what the Labour Party officials who will be vot- ing next Sunday really want to hear from their prospec- tive future leaders. And until Fearne's foolhardy 'not while I'm still alive' boast this week, it had only ever really come from Robert Abela: who, un- like Fearne, has been promis- ing 'continuity' – as opposed to 'change' – from day one of the campaign. So for what it's worth, my own take on Fearne's predic- tion is that he either realised, too late, that he had to change rhetorical tack, and change it fast… or someone in his advisory team took him aside by the ear, and gently re- minded him which audience he should really be making his pitch to: i.e., not the wider audience that can be wooed with promises of 'peace, love and reconciliation'… but the narrower, partisan audience which – after an unprecedent- ed slide into opprobrium and humiliation on an almost in- tergalactic level – now hungers for REVENGE. Still, the question remains. Will this last-ditch attempt at populism be enough to win Chris Fearne the support he needs, to go onto phase two of his future plans? You know, the 'national unity' part, which Fearne will eventually get round to… but only after totally destroying and burying the Nationalist Party, like he also promised? Hey, don't look at me; I've already said I won't be making any predictions of my own. Except for one, which by now should be obvious to every- body. 'National unity' cannot ever realistically be built on foun- dations like those. Not in a million years… still less in the course of the next 365 days. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JANUARY 2020 Still, the question remains. Will this last-ditch attempt at populism be enough to win Chris Fearne the support he needs, to go onto phase two of his future plans? You know, the 'national unity' part, which Fearne will eventually get round to… but only after totally destroying and burying the Nationalist Party, like he also promised?