Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/321747
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 JUNE 2014 News 9 expected. But behind the façade of muted satisfaction lies a much deeper ma- laise. Not even a third seat in the European parliament can atone for the fact that the PN has now receded even further into the electoral waste- land following its dismal March 2013 result. The result, on a nationwide level, indicates what many within the party itself are now openly declar- ing: that support for the Nationalist Party has actually dwindled in the 14 months since it lost an election by 36,000 votes. Needed: humility David Griscti, chairman of the AZAD foundation – a think-tank founded by the Nationalist Party in 1976 – voices the concerns of many within the PN when he urges the party to "flush out all the old faces and renew itself completely." Part of this renewal, he indicates, may have to take the form of an act of contri- tion. It is clear from the election result, he says, that the old strategies fa- voured by the PN are out of synch with what the people want. "The PN has to have the courage to acknowl- edge that confrontational politics are no longer 'in'. People don't want it, they respond negatively to negative campaigning." Griscti argues that the party is still haunted by the spectre of former ac- tivists who had fallen out of favour in recent years. Even if some of the mis- takes were made under former lead- ership, the PN has yet to atone for the "shameful" way it treated some of its own exponents in the past. "The policy of assassinating people through the media is unacceptable," he asserts. "It is the sort of strategy that is only utilised by people who have no idea of the psyche of the population." As an example he refers to the case of John Dalli – the former finance minister who fell from grace into scandal as EU Commissioner. "The way he was treated as an individual was unacceptable and undignified. Whatever you make of his perform- ance as Commissioner, Dalli was a star of successive Nationalist admin- istrations. He was the brain behind modern Malta's economic system. As finance minister he oversaw the transition from an offshore centre to a very successful financial services hub…" The way he was attacked and hu- miliated – "kicked when he was down" – was not only degrading, Griscti argues, but also served as an ominous warning to others: this is how the PN treats its own people. "Who would want to come forward with ideas and proposals under these circumstances? Most sane people would stay well clear." The same attitude, he adds, also contradicts the PN's core values. "How does the PN's treatment of its own critics compare with the sup- posedly fundamental Nationalist principle of respecting the dignity of every human being? In the end they only managed to alienate and mar- ginalise people. They left no space to express internal criticism. The PN was reduced to the same, boring, grey people." While Busuttil himself may not be directly linked to this strategy, it is still incumbent on him as PN leader to apologise to the many people his party pushed away. "Busuttil inher- ited a party fraught with infighting, but he still has to take responsibility for the mistakes. The PN has to have the humility to apologise to the peo- ple it antagonised; to acknowledge that the way it treated them was wrong." Underestimating Muscat It is not just party insiders who were subject to a backfiring strategy of consistent public ridicule. The PN's traditional treatment of its po- litical adversaries also appears out of synch with electoral reality. Yet it has not changed in any discernable detail since Simon Busuttil took over the leadership. Michael Falzon, a former Nation- alist minister under Eddie Fenech Adami, argues that the PN's under- estimation of Joseph Muscat was a recipe for electoral disaster. "The excessively hysterical attacks at every perceived false step on the part of the Muscat administration have dented further the PN's cred- ibility rather than Muscat's," he points out in an article today. "Dis- cerning voters cannot stand the at- titude that seems to imply that what- ever the PN did in government was right while whatever Muscat does in government is wrong. They can- not stand the attitude that the PN is necessarily superior and that its performance in government was be- yond reproach." Falzon reasons that by consist- ently minimising the persona of Joseph Muscat, the PN not only failed to pick up warning signs from the electorate, but also succeeded into deluding itself into believing its own propaganda: with tragic results that were reflected in last Saturday's vote. "For the PN to stand a chance of beating Muscat, it has first to shed its prejudices and look at things objectively. It has to acknowledge – and respect – his intelligence, his shrewdness and his capability for us- ing the right tactics in the right mo- ment, rather than dismissing him as some inferior politician." Inconsistency Yet another point raised for in- ternal discussion concerns regular inconsistency on individual issues on which the PN has tried to take a stand. David Griscti believes the party has to stop sending out mixed messages on social issues. "We al- ready saw this inconsistency when the PN tabled a private members' bill to amend the Constitution to safeguard minority rights, and then abstained on a civil unions bill..." But at the same time, the AZAD chairman adds that you can only expect inconsistency when a party struggling to reinvent itself still fields all the same defeated generals in key positions. "How can you have the same former cabinet ministers of the Gonzi administration still shadow- ing the same portfolios today? Still talking about the same issues over which they themselves were rejected by the electorate in 2013?" To successfully change course at this late stage, the party urgently needs to invest in new people and fresh ideas. But this can only be achieved if it overturns the wide- spread perception that it is still run by a hidden 'clique'. "There are many examples but the one that sticks in my mind – not because it is more important but because it says so much about the PN's attitude – was a demand by Marsalforn restaurant and café own- ers to be allowed to put out tables on the promenade around Santa Marija time. For years they begged to be given this simple concession, and for years the answer was always 'No'. Labour came into power and granted them permission within months..." It may sound like a trivial com- plaint, but Griscti points out that the same attitude prevailed across the board, and created an overwhelming impression that the government was simply protecting vested interests, or otherwise uninterested in fostering private initiative. "Even after the defeat, people ap- proaching the PN with good ideas were often told: 'No, sorry, this is not the right time…'. Excuse me, but if this is not the right time, when is?" Busuttil: stay or go? For all this, internal PN opinion seems to be divided on the question of whether Busuttil himself – who was deputy PN leader in the admin- istration that was rejected in 2013, and who also authored the failed manifesto – should be among the old faces to go. Nobody within the party has publicly demanded his resigna- tion following the election debacle; though many found it significant that this most conspicuous defender to date has been none other than Lawrence Gonzi: arguably the archi- tect of most of the abovementioned flaws within the PN. However, David Griscti also de- fends Busuttil in his role as party leader. "I genuinely believe Busut- til is the right person to carry out the necessary reform. But it was big mistake for him to take on the dep- uty leadership [in December 2012]. I don't doubt he did it out of a sense of party loyalty, but as a result he is now viewed as a continuation of the previous administration, when continuity is the last thing the party needs…" Echoing many of the stated con- cerns at a PN executive meeting last Thursday, the AZAD chairman expects Busuttil to respond to the challenge not by stepping down, but by being more of his own man, more courageous in his decisions and less apparently enthralled to a coterie of invisible people controlling the party. A similar view is taken by profes- sor Joe Friggieri – himself a former PN candidate, but also a regular con- tributor to the PN's internal debates and discussions – who summed up the required direction with typi- cal aplomb: "The first thing the PN should do is try to understand what it stands for. It should talk less about values, by which it usually means tra- ditional values inspired by the party's slogan, and concentrate on drawing up an action plan that would allow it to reach a wider cross-section of the population, including the young. It needs to get to grips with the pro- found changes taking place in Mal- tese society and stop preaching to the converted. Its means of commu- nication need a radical overhaul." The only way is change x CALL FOR TENDERS As part of the project ESF no. 3.196 – "GenderBalanceinDecision-Making",theNational Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) is requesting submissions for the provision of: PUBLICATION REFERENCE: DT-NCPE/12/2014 TENDER TITLE: Service Tender for the Provision of Publicity and Publications for the Project ESF no.3.196 – "GenderBalanceinDecision-Making" Any queries should be sent to equality@gov.mt by not later than Monday 16 th June, 2014 specifying the publication reference and the tender title. Clarification Meeting will be held on Friday 6 th June, 2014 at 10.00am at NCPE premises. Closing Date for submission of tenders is Monday 23 rd June, 2014 at 10.00am. All submissions should be hand-delivered to our offices. Terms of reference can be obtained from our offices or by sending an email (see details below). Interested bidders are to register their interest with NCPE so that they can be notified immediately of any communication/clarification issued in relation to such tender. NCPE Gattard House, National Road, Blata l-Bajda ĦMR 9010 E-mail: equality@gov.mt Tel: 2590 3850 Fax: 2590 3851 W eb: www.equality.gov.mt Operational Programme II – EU Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life Project part-financed by the European Union European Social Fund (ESF) Co-financing rate: 85% EU Funds; 15% National Funds Investing in your future David Griscti: "People respond negatively to negative campaigning" The PN headquarters in Pieta