Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1421642
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 OCTOBER 2021 INTERVIEW you have to change yourself I was the leader who was replaced; but because it takes time – and the certainty of stability - to effect any form of meaningful change. You describe the experience as 'positive' for the PN; but isn't it also true that it created a schism within the party? And that even today, there is still a tranche of PN supporters who remain loyal to you; and who still harbour grudges over what happened last year? First of all, 'schism' is a very loaded word. And it is impossible to interpret what a lot of differ- ent people are thinking. So let me start with myself. From the outset, I was already 'controversial' for the simple rea- son that I came from the outside. Inevitably, then there was going to be a certain reluctance, among some people; and a certain in- comprehension, among others. All well and good. But already, you can see that there was a big demand for change. And many of the peo- ple who voted for me, did not do so because of how 'good' they thought I was, on any person- al level… but simply because I wasn't one of the old faces. Let's not forget that, not counting the previous four years, the PN had been in government for 25 years... Already, then, there was a thirst for change. And we are still go- ing through that process today, because the change itself has still not been delivered. Now: the problem is not that I myself won that election, as opposed to anyone else. And the problem is certainly not named 'Bernard Grech', either. No, the real problem is that - on the first occasion where peo- ple were given the democratic right to vote for a leader of their own choice - the mandate they decided upon was not fulfilled. So many of them felt – and still feel – betrayed. Because they did not elect a leader for two, or three years: to be cut short, at the whim of a Parliamentary Group. They elected a leader for a full term. And that is where the real wound [weggha] lies. Now: I'm the sort of person who always tries to think for- ward. I do see, and understand, that 'wound'; and yes, I could easily exploit it for my own ends, if I wanted to. But I have no need for any of that; as far as I'm concerned, I tried to make my contribution, as PN leader. And if, after two or three years, my own people turned to me and said: 'Listen, we've had enough'… who am I, to say, 'But I feel I can contrib- ute more?' I can always continue contributing in other ways… But to answer your question directly: other people – the ones who decided that I could have contributed more, for a whole term – feel cheated. This is the crux of the matter… At the PN's Independence Day activities on the Fosos, howev- er, your campaign volunteers all turned up wearing 'Team Adrian Delia' T-shirts… an ini- tiative that was subsequently condemned by PN leader Ber- nard Grech. Doesn't he have a point, that this sort of political stunt only exposes internal di- visions further? And was it your idea to begin with? No, no, let me explain what happened. The whole thing was totally blown out of proportion. For starters, the Nationalist Par- ty has a long tradition of candi- dates whose supporters create, and wear, personalised campaign T-shirts. After all, we're not talk- ing about T-shirts with the logo of another party. It was the PN logo on those T-shirts… But another thing is that – and this is the part the media left out – the whole idea was to encour- age more people to attend the meeting. In fact, I was the one who came out on Facebook, to say: 'Come to the Fosos!' I was the one encouraging people to attend. Now: it could well be that some of those people who attended were sceptical, or half-hearted… but let's face it: if I really wanted to damage the party, I would have told them to simply stay at home. The bottom line, however, is that there was nothing even un- usual about all this. Those volun- teers did nothing wrong; it was just a case of ordinary campaign- ing, in support of a particular candidate. But there were sec- tions of the media – obviously, from the opposite political camp - that did their best to add fuel to the flames. And they succeeded, too… because the fire did ignite. Effectively, however: in the scale of political issues – finance, the economy, the cost of living, op- portunities for young people, the elderly, etc. – what, are we serious- ly going to make such a fuss about four people wearing T-shirts? Come on, it doesn't make sense. If I really wanted to be divisive, and put spokes in the wheel… it doesn't take much, believe me… Another factor contributing to your defeat last year was the PN's negative performance in the polls. Under your leader- ship, the party made no pro- gress from the 2017 result in three years. Ironically, how- ever, surveys today suggest that the PN has failed to make inroads under Bernard Grech, either; in fact, it seems to have lost support. First of all: how much importance do you your- self give to surveys? [Laughing] I can hardly afford not to give any importance to polls and surveys, considering how drastically they affected my own position in the party! But I am not in any position to confirm how accurate, or otherwise, they may be. Certainly, however, they are a form of indicator. And yes, recent polls do sug- gest that PN has not gained any ground since last year… and I won't go into whether it has lost more ground or not, because… let's face it… [shrugs]… it didn't move forward. And that's what really matters… What do you think the PN is do- ing wrong, to be still struggling so hard to recover from past de- feats? Part of the equation surely has to be 'what the government is do- ing right', on certain issues. But I also think that the Nationalist Party, over the past eight or so years, has still not managed to go through the process of 'un- dressing' from its past mentality, of a ruling party for quarter of a century… and wearing instead the cloak of humility: to be able to understand that, before trying to change the government; or change what the government is doing; you have to first change yourself. That, I think, is the starting point of the entire discussion. But if you're going to ask me exactly where, and how, the Nationalist Party should change… Yes, I am going to ask that… … then we would quite frankly need a whole series of other in- terviews: even once a week. I'd be up for it any time…