Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1421642
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 OCTOBER 2021 INTERVIEW Before changing government, you It's been almost exactly a year since you were replaced by Bernard Grech as PN leader; after both the Parliamentary Group and Executive Commit- tee declared they had no faith in you. What do you think you did wrong, to have turned so many people against you… or, at minimum, to have failed to earn their trust? I would say it's the second sce- nario, more than the first. I don't think I 'turned anyone against me'. It could well be, though, that I didn't 'earn their trust'… but it could be other things, too. At this stage, it's all speculation. Certainly, however, the fact that I was the first PN leader to come 'from the outside' – that is, not from the traditional stables of the PN itself – made it uncomforta- ble for some people who are more used to working with people they know. So everything I tried to do; all my efforts to instil a new way of doing politics… it took many people out of their comfort zone, so to speak. But today, I find it difficult to even remember those events; to go back in time, and harbour any sentiments over what happened. I prefer to live in the present, and absorb that which is happening around me today. Quite frank- ly, it is not in my nature to dwell for too long on something in the past… It is, however, important to un- derstand what happened, and why. You seem to be suggest- ing that all the antagonism you faced was simply because you were an 'outsider'. But wasn't Bernard Grech an outsider, too? Yes, but there is a difference. The way things unfolded, it is clear that the party had by that time [October 2019] understood that it was a non-starter, to once again choose someone from the inner circles. So they chose some- one who was 'from the outside', yes; but who was perhaps more acceptable to the party insiders; and possibly after some form of compromise… But I don't feel it's an issue I should get involved with, myself. For what it's worth, my own per- spective is that - despite having had the courage to extend the de- cision-making process to include the 'tesserati' [paid-up members] - the PN was evidently not ready for that sort of change, in prac- tice. All the same, I still think it was a worthwhile exercise. And I feel that, even if I didn't manage to instil all the changes I wanted to… it was still important to give the party a 'shock to the system' [skossjatura]. Today, I take com- fort from the fact that, when I meet and talk to people in the street, they no longer ask me about 'what happened last year'; instead, they talk to me about their problems and concerns to- day. So I feel that there are people out there, who think that I may still be able to make a difference. And that, to me, is a source of personal satisfaction. On the subject of changes to the PN's voting procedures: MaltaToday recently revealed some changes that, for some reason, were not publicised by the party. These include a Sin- gle Transferable Vote system, whereby the General Council narrows down the candidates to two after a first round of voting. Do you think this was a manoeuvre, on the part of the PN, to make it more difficult for 'outsiders' to get elected in fu- ture? From what I've read so far – be- cause obviously, I no longer have this kind of information coming to me directly - it doesn't look as though any real changes, insofar as PN leadership elections, were made in the past year. And I say this because, as far as I know – and I think I'm correct – according to the party statute, any changes to the PN leader- ship election process have to be decided not just by the Execu- tive Council, but also the Gen- eral Council. To the best of my knowledge, the General Council was not convened to decide on this matter, in the past year. If, on the other hand, we are talking about changes when I was still leader – in other words, the 'Louis Galea reform', which over- hauled the entire statute – there were some amendments, yes. And there was an internal debate, on whether we should go back to the previous system. But I strongly opposed this; partly because – as the first PN leader elected by this new general franchise – it would have been a gross historical injustice, for me to have also been the first leader to dismantle that system. But partly also because I believe that, for the party to renew itself, it needs to have its finger on the pulse of the grassroots. So the more candidates participating in leadership elections, the more chance you will have of an ac- curate reflection of the people's concerns… You say it was important to 'shock the system': but what has really come of it, in prac- tice? Do you think that the Na- tionalist Party has learnt any- thing, from the experience of the past year? I can't speak on behalf of the Nationalist Party, as a whole; but I do understand – or at least, I'd like to think – that this experi- ence was, in fact, a positive one for the party. There was a need for it to happen; and there is a need for it to continue happen- ing today. God forbid we were to go back to our previous hab- it of 'closing doors'… because it would mean that we have learnt precisely nothing. If the party did learn anything, though: I think one lesson was that any change you try to bring about, will always create shocks to the system. And also that, when you effect change, you must have the patience to actual- ly see the entire process through to its conclusion. So, to step outside of my own character, and look at it from the perspective of what I myself have learnt: it was good, and cou- rageous, that the PN decided to open up the leadership election to a wider electorate; but it was bad, that were no guarantees that the elected leader would remain in place for a full term… natural- ly, not counting any circumstanc- es where there may be genuine cause for impeachment. And I'm not saying this because A year since his turbulent replacement as PN leader, ADRIAN DELIA shows no sign of bitterness or resentment over his own fall from power. But he warns that the Nationalist Party cannot hope to renew itself, unless it learns the lessons of that experience Paul Cocks pcocks@mediatoday.com.mt JAMES BIANCHI