Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1333591
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 JANUARY 2021 NEWS Bernard's troubles: one step forward, two JAMES DEBONO DAYS after MaltaToday published a poll showing Bernard Grech not only reuniting his party's voters, but also making small in- roads among Labour voters – with 11% of PL voters in 2017 trusting him more than Abela compared to 6% of PN voters who trust Abela more – the PN leader stumbled in the face of resistance by MPs to an over- haul of his shadow cabinet. The PN leader denies that he has back- tracked in the face of a mutiny, insisting that this was part of a process of dialogue with MPs. But even if this was the case, the end re- sult was that, with the exception of Claudio Grech's "policy transformation" portfolio, Grech retained the status quo, a clear indi- cation that he prefers not to rock the boat. This could be understandable considering that as things stand the talent pool in the PN parliamentary group is so limited; re- shuffling roles might not add much value. In reality, what the PN needs most are new faces, not just any reshuffle. But Grech knows that to win back the trust of the electorate he has to convince voters that the PN has a capable team ready to govern the country, and that his MPs are no longer a rowdy bunch holding on to their turf in a declining opposition, but a team energised by the prospect of govern- ing the country. 'If they can do this in opposition…' It has been reported that Bernard Grech was forced to retain most of the MPs in their current shadow positions after facing a backlash from his parliamentary group and their constituents. Significantly, Stephen Spiteri and Rob- ert Arrigo were retained as spokespersons for health and tourism respectively despite Grech's initial intention to reassign their portfolios. Others key portfolios where Grech made no changes include finance, infrastructure and foreign affairs where Mario de Marco, Toni Bezzina and Carm Mifsud Bonnici have retained their respec- tive posts. The only major change was reassigning the compliant Jason Azzopardi from the justice portfolio to shadowing Clyde Caru- ana on work and employment, a change which falls short of addressing the need of boosting the party's credentials on social and economic policy, an area where the party is in desperate need of new blood. But apart from exposing the limits of the talent pool which inevitably crippled Grech, reports of sitting MPs defending their turf and resisting reassignment to other roles have left voters wondering on how these MPs would have reacted had Grech been prime minister. For if Nationalist MPs can obstruct a re- shuffle of the shadow cabinet where the stakes are low, one wonders how they would have reacted in power. The episode underlines the fragility of Grech's hold in the party. Grech himself has been careful not to sideline MPs known for their loyal- ty to former leader Adrian Delia. But any insubordination by MPs is bound to per- petuate the perception that the PN's front- bench is not only poor in talent but lacks unity. The fact that this insubordination filtered into the media suggests that Grech does not even command the authority and respect to preclude such leaks. If he is una- ble to command the loyalty of his MPs now, he will find it even harder to keep them in their place if he finds himself Prime Min- ister. Renewal easier in Labour Added to this is the resistance of old-tim- ers to pave the way for newcomers in stra- tegic posts like that of party secretary-gen- eral and the party's two deputy leaders. The sight of Francis Zammit Dimech re-con- testing the secretary-general post suggests the party is still struggling to renew itself. The decision of Robert Arrigo and David Agius to stay on in their deputy leadership posts also prevents the party from present- ing a renewed leadership team. This contrasts with the PL, which has only recently replaced Chris Cardona with Dan- iel Jose Micallef. For after Joseph Muscat's downfall, Roberta Abela invested in renew- ing his party, strengthening the perception that his government is not a continuation of Muscat's but a new one. While Grech finds it difficult to introduce new blood in his party, Abela is doing the exact opposite, renewing his parliamentary group through co-options which has seen the inclusion of Miriam Dalli and Clyde Caruana in Cabinet and former disability rights commissioner Oliver Scicluna in La- bour's parliamentary group. Consumed by culture wars The PN still has not managed to capture the popular imagination through any new major policy proposal, with Grech even re- maining very cautious on rocking the boat on issues such hunting, with Edwin Vas- sallo appointed spokesperson for this 'pas- PN leader Bernard Grech has not capitalised on polls showing the first f limsy signs of recovery to affirm his leadership in the party, backtracking on a major overhaul of his shadow cabinet, raising questions on the authority he commands in his party