Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1472276
THERE are two things that hap- pen to you when you exit pol- itics. You either become more cynical about politics – or else you become more truthful to yourself, less hypocritical and start speaking the truth more freely. Therese Comodini Cachia, the former Nationalist MEP and MP, in my view falls in the sec- ond category. I may not agree with all her viewpoints, but her decision to stand up to Tonio Borg's dia- tribe in the press against the pro-choice lobby was com- mendable. Comodini Cachia did not at least mince her words when Jo- seph Muscat chose to get back into the limelight with his role representing Malta Premier league clubs. I guess Hibs fan and football fanatic Jason Azzopardi, anoth- er former MP, chose not to say anything about Muscat, in full cognisance that Hibs actually backed Muscat's nomination. Such is life! When Tonio Borg was quizzed in 2012 as a nominee for the EC's health and consumer com- missioner after the forced resig- nation of John Dalli, Borg was very careful not to irritate MEPs who questioned him about abortion. In 2012 Borg was careful not to say the wrong thing. After hav- ing served as Lawrence Gonzi's deputy and as self-appointed arch-conservative persecutor of the 'liberal elite', Borg landed himself with sizeable Commis- sioner's pension by assuring his MEP inquisitors that he would uphold women's rights, gay rights and all that. It was, in similar fashion, the same kind of declaration of faith of Roberta Metsola, when she needed the backing of Renew, the liberals under the Macronite wave of politics, and proceeded to sign the Simone Veil Pact so as to quell any French doubts on her commitment to repro- ductive rights. I'm sure that, had she decid- ed to return to Maltese politics – which I doubt – she would be taking a different stand on abortion. Abortion is certainly no light-hearted subject, but it cannot be seen from the polit- ical lens of 2012. That political class is totally out of synch with today's society. Instead of scribbling about abortion, Borg would be bet- ter off reflecting on his time as home affairs minister, and the legacy of some his decisions there; or perhaps acknowledge that his time together with Law- rence Gonzi contributed to the spiralling demise of the Nation- alist Party, with the hubris they showed that started a down- ward trend. You could say that that trend has now brought the party to the Bernard Grech leadership, a politician who seems to lack the respect of his peers, and is now hanging on to his post for reasons known only to himself. Grech is out of his depth. He has been abandoned by most, if not all his advisers and close aides. And it is now that he needs the most support and inspiration: why they chose to leave him now, beggar's belief. His former campaign manag- er Chris Peregin vowed to help Grech save the country from its rot, quitting the day after the most damaging electoral result ever experienced by the PN, a party now seemingly in a state of irreversible decay. Grech's new deputy-to-be, Alex Perici Calascione, was as much a surprise for us as Grech himself. For it is inconceivable that a leader of a party does not attempt to manoeuvre the choice of his deputy leader. I guess that's Grech for you. What's more worrying is that many loyal Nationalists have given up trying to change what's wrong from within. They are grouping together so that when time comes, they will simply move in and jack him out. Bernard Grech knows that he cannot win the next European elections in 2024. He lacks the leader's gravitas, the charisma, the rhetorical will-power and vision to pull the electorate towards the Na- tionalist Party and away from Labour. That this government needs to have a watchdog goes without saying. But you cannot confront a government without an oppo- sition. And you cannot have an oppo- sition if its leader is a boy scout. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 JULY 2022 OPINION 5 Saviour Balzan Grech knows he cannot win the next European elections... he lacks gravitas, charisma, rhetorical will-power and the vision to pull the electorate away from Labour A boy-scout cannot win elections