Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/405994
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2014 News 6 Re-branding Simon For the first time since the general election, Simon Busuttil has given his party a sense of purpose. But can he compete on the same turf where his opponent Joseph Muscat is perceived to be a natural, JAMES DEBONO asks APART from the triumphal choice of music (taken from Dreamworks' 'How to tame my Dragon'), played as he shook hands with party officials before taking the stage, Simon Busut- til's 80-minute speech represented his best moment in his first year as PN leader. The speech had all the ingredients of being his first one as PN leader even if he has been in office for a year and half. The question is why make the speech now and not last year? The answer probably is that it was the party's second consecutive defeat last June which finally gave Busuttil a free hand to impose his will on the party and thus turn his party more in his image. The conference also comes with a realisation that the party cannot ig- nore the evolution of Maltese democ- racy towards a more Americanised brand of presidentialism, pioneered by GonziPN in 2008 but taken to an extreme by Muscat's movement in 2013. Aping Steve Jobs or Joseph Muscat? Busuttil's new demeanour is remi- niscent of that of US entrepreneur Steve Jobs and present Italian PM Matteo Renzi who are also known for a disregard of formal dress code and body language. By walking across the stage and taking off his jacket before taking the stage Busuttil also gave the impression that he is back in the business of winning what he described the "hearts and minds" of the Maltese. By speaking for 80 minutes with- out reading any notes or using a tel- eprompter he exuded the confidence which his party has been lacking for months. But the speech was also reminis- cent of Muscat's first speech as leader in which he freely moved on stage, declaring his love for his wife and the audience. Pundits dismissed this speech for Muscat's "inhobbkom" moment. But while Muscat faced a weak gov- ernment elected by a whisker after more than 20 years in power, Bu- suttil is facing a leader who has just confirmed his 55% majority in MEP elections in June. Busuttil was lucky that his speech coincided with Muscat's first major setback; the failure to complete the new energy plant by the promised deadline. But will this be enough to erode trust in Muscat's government? Moreover Muscat grew from that speech, becoming more forceful and whimsical. Busuttil must do the same over a long period of time. Like Muscat who often referred to relatives like his grandfather, Busuttil even integrated his life story into his speech, referring directly to his sons Greg and Zack and to his date Kris- tina Chetcuti, who accompanied him to the opera in Gozo. One may ask, who cares? But by making one's personal life a subject of gossip, politicians can also find their own niche in a celebrity culture. Still the question is: can Busuttil ever compete with Muscat's persona, which has continued to grow with the gravitas of office? The flowing but forceful speech which ran for 80 minutes, during which Busuttil was fully at ease with himself and the audience, indicates that he may be more competitive than previously believed. It may also be the case of a well-rehearsed speech. The question is whether Busuttil can keep up with the momentum unleashed by the convention, which may well be a one off. Moreover while Muscat counter- balances his Americanisms with Latin machismo, which resonates with his overall populist appeal, Bu- suttil tends to come across as a timid schoolboy sitting for an exam. On Sunday he seemed to have finally as- sumed the posture of a leader but he needs to be more passionate to win over people's hearts. Moreover when it comes to winning over minds Busuttil must be wary of sacrificing content to empty slogans like his concluding remark that it is better to be smart than cool. Strong leader, weak party? One notable difference between Muscat and Busuttil is that while the former regarded his party as a liabil- ity, sidelining it in favour of a "move- ment of moderates and progressives" and wearing a blue tie, Simon Busut- til constantly referred to the Nation- alist Party with a sense of pride while sticking to his blue tie. In fact Busuttil directly referred to the Nationalist Party 25 times in his speech. Still, Busuttil still threads between a self-righteous defence of his party's accomplishments in office and ad- mitting mistakes. While this is un- derstandable as every government leaves a mixed legacy, the scale of defeat left the PN no choice but to re- cant and apologise. In this sense Busuttil's attempt to draw a line with the past may be crip- pled by his own front bench in parlia- ment being mostly made up of former ministers. This explains why he is so keen to associate his party with new faces. The fact that people like child care entrepreneur Rosette Thake and ar- chitect David Felice have lent their credible faces to the party, helping it formulate new policies, shows that Busuttil is making some inroads among university educated profes- sionals. Surely the PN's recovery is bound to start among this constituency of vot- ers but can Busuttil make any inroads among other categories, such as the working class and small businesses? Moreover can he make any inroads among these groups as long as the economy continues to perform well, as Busuttil acknowledged in his own speech. A pincer movement Busuttil has finally succeeded in giving his party a sense of purpose: namely that of a party which protects the "common good" while respecting what he called "personal independ- ence" in matters of personal choices, thus showing that unlike his pred- ecessor he is more likely to associate the common good with social and environmental issues rather than the defence of morality or the traditional family. Moreover he defined a battle cry, namely a stance against nepotism and clientelism and a style of leader- ship; that of being near "the people". He also identifies the strength of the Nationalist Party as a "mosaic of different people and ideas", thus showing an inclination of turning his party into the broad stream it was un- der Fenech Adami. So once again he gave a mish-mash of anti socialism, culminating in Busuttil's remark that socialists all over the world are good in one thing; spending other people's money, with a warning that the most vulnerable will suffer if pension reform is restricted to an optional third pillar. He also derided the 58 cents wage increase which is "equivalent to the price of an SMS sent during a ONE TV programme". Still some entrepre- neurs may argue that through COLA the state is spending their money to make up for inflation. It would have been more interesting had Busut- til come up with his own views on whether the COLA mechanism should be reformed, and how. Surely Labour's shift to more pro business positions on a number of is- sues, has left the PN in a state of ideo- logical disarray. Busuttil's speech indicates that his strategy may consist of a pincer move- ment; attacking the government from both left and right, depending on the issue at stake. The strategy worked perfectly for Fenech Adami in the Number of references made in the convention speech, to: Partit Nazzjonalista 25 Ideas 21 Nepotism 14 Government's lies 12 Clientelism 10 Truth 10 Quality of Life 10 Jobs 8 Winning next election 7 International reputation 7 Near to the people 7 Openness 6 Common Good 5 New Style of Politics 5 Traffic 5 Pensions 4 Health 4 Inspiration 4 Konrad Mizzi 4 Honesty 4 Poverty 4 Culture 3 Environment 3 Joseph Muscat 3 Smart 3 Country's finances 3 Liberty 3 Renewal 3 Education 3 Liberty 2 Michelle Muscat 2 Retailers 2 Reconciliation 2 Civil Unions 2 Gay 2 Industry 2 Corruption 1 Divorce 1 Joe Mizzi 1 Jason Micallef 1 Simon Busuttil and Kristina Chetcuti