Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1268420
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JULY 2020 Cases 674 Local 575 Active 7 Recoveries 658 Deaths 9 Swabs 106,425 LATEST COVID-19 www.maltatoday.com.mt/covid19 NEWS Delivery fee of just €1 per day for orders up to 5 newspapers per address To subscribe 1. Email us your choice of newspapers, recipient's name, address, contact number to production@ millermalta.com 2. Forward cheques payabale to Miller Dis- tributors Ltd to address: Miller House, Airport Way, Tarxien Road, Luqa LQA1814 Queries on other news- papers and magazines, contact production@millermal- ta.com maltatoday Same-day delivery of your favourite Sunday newspaper Monday-Friday MaltaToday Midweek • €1 BusinessToday • €1.50 Sunday MaltaToday • €1.95 ILLUM • €1.25 Support your favourite newspaper with a subscription https://bit.ly/2X9csmr As rebel MPs cross the Rubicon they face a choice: engage in battle with Delia, or retain a semblance of party unity. Can Therese Comodini Cachia pick up the pieces from the fallout of the nuclear option, JAMES DEBONO asks? Strong-arming Delia THE path of no-return for the Nationalist Party's rebel back- bench, 17 MPs and two MEPs, has been that of launching a coup against a democrati- cally-elected, yet flawed par- ty leader – the risk has been known from the very start. Short of Adrian Delia resigning honourably, dethroning him meant months of chaotic in- fighting that is bound to alien- ate the wider electorate. Such a bloodbath kept moderate MPs and party officials loyal to De- lia, wary of his antagonists de- spite lingering doubts on his suitability. They thought De- lia's inevitable fate was defeat at the polls. Strong-arming Delia Still, the prospect of further embarrassment from Delia fending off accusations of im- propriety at a crucial moment when the PN should be on the offensive, brought about a new impetus for his removal before it was too late. For even as La- bour was coming to terms with the industrial-scale corrup- tion characterising the Mus- cat years, Delia's name started cropping up in court proceed- ings and WhatsApp leaks (con- tents of which he 'denies'), shifting the balance against him. In a bid to save the par- ty from free-fall under a lame duck, some want to strong-arm him into submission. Rebel MPs don't want a split or form a new party, but to get rid of Delia and bring about the election of a new leader. Getting there requires the un- thinkable: not just forcing a no-confidence vote, but pre- senting a challenger – some- thing that so far has always eluded Delia's opponents, al- lowing him to persist in a lead- ership legitimised by his 2017 election and councillors' reaf- firmation in 2019. But it's stubbornness that gives Delia his greatest strength, in the past having made it harder for the rebels to press the nuclear button. Now it could well be his undoing: if Delia is hell-bent on taking the party down with him to force a split, that could bring about party insiders and moderates to the side of the rebels. And with just 11 MPs supporting Delia, his defiance in the face of such an untenable position baffles moderates. Enter the reluctant politician Forcing Delia out necessitat- ed finding an MP to present to the President as the rebels' choice of Opposition lead- er. Faced with the prospect of condemning the party to chaos by staying on, Delia would be pressured to resign and pave the way for a leadership con- test that allows the party to move on from its darkest hour. Getting there required some- one willing to fill the vacancy of Opposition leader as a stop- gap measure until a new leader is elected, unleashing an un- precedented constitutional cri- sis, that puts pressure on Delia to resign and end the civil war. But putting one's name for- ward to front one of the most complicated political manoeu- vres in Maltese parliamentary history is a great risk, possibly ending up with an Opposition leader who is not party leader. Surprisingly, it was Ther- ese Comodini Cachia, a for- mer MP, human rights lawyer and University academic who took up the challenge. She half-heartedly resigned her seat in Brussels when elected in 2017, hinting she preferred her European vocation. But it was perhaps her lack of leadership ambition that made her accept- able to MPs, a means to an end that forces out Delia, and gives rebels a purpose in the interim. For without a leading refer- ence point, the rebel group risks implosion. The reluctance of long-time favourite Claudio Grech to take up the challenge proves the kind of difficult choice Comodini Cachia has made. This time she cannot take up the role reluctantly; circumstances require that she asserts her authority over a group of MPs solely united by the goal of removing Delia. In politics the role also chang- es people. If Comodini Cachia can steer the ship home, her standing will grow. If she doesn't flop, she could be- come a reassuring and gentler face of Maltese politics, with a grounding in human rights that is coupled by a sober and unpretentious style. It could reconnect the party with mid- dle-of-the-road voters tired of Muscat's strongman politics and Delia's poor imitation of the same. For fighting Muscat at his own game might have been the PN's greatest strate- gic mistake… or perhaps, the secret yearning of the party's rank-and-file to have "a leader like Joseph". The lure of the strongman Malta's presidential drift in politics provid- ed fertile ground for strongmen leaders. With his lack of polit- ical depth and experi- ence, Delia galvanised a loyal crowd mainly composed of the PN's working class and so- cially conservative base, in the process alienat- ing a seemingly more educated cohort of voters, with- out whose s u p - port the party is destined to elector- al oblivion. Delia's next move could bank on the latent support in the party's grassroots. With noth- ing to lose, Delia would opt for a showdown, knowing that in the last three years he showed his best when defending his turf among party members and councillors. That gun- fight would be fought first in the PN's executive committee, where Delia might have already lost support, and possibly the wider General Council where he still can carry the day. And here Comodini Cachia's 'conti- nental' and detached brand of politics could falter, for Delia knows his populist and asser- tive style resonates with party councillors. That makes it imperative for Comodini Cachia to present an alternative style of lead- ership that addresses the