Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1439469
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 DECEMBER 2021 NEWS Christmas specials • Politics 1. Both are struggling with their predecessor's legacy Robert Abela has also shown remarkable ability in slowly but steadily detaching himself from his predecessor's legacy with- out disowning him. He man- ages to keep on board Muscat loyalists and critically-minded Labour and MOR voters who have lost faith in the former leader. The arrest of former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and ten others, including Nex- ia BT's Brian Tonna and Karl Cini, on money laundering and corruption related to a case of alleged corruption involving Allied Newspapers, went a long way in clearing the air from the impunity which characterised Malta under Joseph Muscat. This showed that the change in police top brass under Abela had started bearing fruit. But as months pass it is be- coming harder to explain the failure to arraign Keith Schem- bri and Konrad Mizzi over corruption cases connected to Labour projects, simply on grounds that police are still gathering evidence. Abela can play for time, perhaps hoping that when the shit hits the fan, he would have a mandate of his own and not one inherited from Muscat. In contrast, Bernard Grech never managed to entirely quell conflicts which came to the fore in a Facebook spat between for- mer ldear Adrian Delia and Ja- son Azzopardi, and once again in September when Delia sup- porters attended Independence celebrations as a 'team' wearing dark blue shirts. Grech's hold on the party re- mained tenuous as confirmed by his inability to steer his party in a more liberal direc- tion on cannabis reform, with a premature declaration taking credit for a crucial aspect of the reform returning to haunt him after the parliamentary group decided to oppose 'the normal- isation' of drug use. And while the lively debate in the PN contrasts with the de- votion to Labour's 'dear leader', Grech has failed in striking a balance between internal de- mocracy and showcasing him- self as a decisive leader. 2. Grech suffers heavily at any sign of weakness. Abela gets away with much more, remaining as popular as ever despite the FATF greylisting Abela has survived major storms which should have shaken his hold on the elector- ate. But the only crisis to hurt him in the polls was an upsurge in COVID cases in the first months of 2021. In contrast he was spared any political fallout from the FATF decision to greylist Mal- ta, which although officially at- tributed to structural problems like tax evasion was also the consequence of the spotlight put on Malta by the assassina- tion of Daphne Caruana Gali- zia and the climate of impunity fostered by Muscat after the Panama Papers. So far Abela has also man- aged to emerge unscathed from cases of impropriety in- volving Labour politicians like Rosianne Cutajar, who was demoted from junior minister but retained on Labour's ticket despite accepting a €9,000 gift from 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech; and Justyne Caruana who has been reprimanded by the Standards Commissioner for a direct order for her inti- mate friend Daniel Bogdanovic. One reason for Abela's Teflon quality is the distance he has set between himself and his prede- cessor. Even timid steps against abuse taken under Abela ap- pear gargantuan in contrast to impunity under Muscat. In contrast the electorate has been more sensitive to any mis- step by Grech, partly because the PN has set higher standards for itself in the past years. So while Labour's proximity to big business is taken for granted to the extent that the public is surprised when a big project is not approved by the Planning Authority, any hint of duplicity by the PN is met by social me- dia outcries. 3. Incapable or unwilling to purge his party of Muscat loyalists, Abela is co-opting a team more representative of his way of thinking. Grech is trying to do the same, with less success Abela has been reluctant to purge the party from people who actively defended Muscat, Schembri and Mizzi. He is even hesitant to act even in clear- cut cases of impropriety like that involving Justyne Caruana. And people like Jason Micallef, Karl Stagno Navarra and Rob- ert Musumeci still dominate the party's presence on both TV and the social media. But crucially through the past months Abela managed to con- solidate his hold in parliament by co-opting a new crop of MPs who are less associated with the Muscat era. These include Fi- nance Minister Clyde Caruana, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli and backbenchers Oliver Sci- cluna and Jonathan Attard. Caruana has proved an inval- uable asset not just because of his competence but also be- cause of his unpretentious de- meanour and technocratic out- look. This has infused the party with new blood and confirmed the party's ability to regenerate itself but has raised questions of democratic legitimacy. And like Gonzi before him Abela has suggested that he would like constitutional pow- ers to appoint unelected tech- nocrats, which would further strengthen the PM's powers. Grech has also managed to ap- point Michael Piccinino as the party's new young general sec- retary replacing veteran Fran- cis Zammit Dimech. He has also gambled on Chris Peregin whom he hired as party strat- egist at the risk of irking the conservative base of the party, which shuns alien imports who may upset the political ecology of the party. Grech still needs an election to push through a generation- al change in his parliamentary group but he may not even ben- efit from it if he fails to make any inroads and is removed af- COVID-19, the never-ending fall-out from the Muscat era, and a tombola of election dates that forced the hand of both leaders, JAMES DEBONO lists 7 similarities and contrasts between Bernard Grech and Robert Abela Seven things we learnt about Abela and Grech JAMES DEBONO