Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/835410
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 JUNE 2017 4 News PAUL COCKS IN public, he is putting on a brave face to convince hard-core PN sup- porters that the party is strong and that the future is bright. But, deep inside and behind closed doors, Simon Busuttil must still be fighting an uphill battle with demons of his own making in an attempt to come to terms with the drubbing the PN received in Satur- day's election at the hands of the Labour Party. But he broke with a Maltese tradi- tion of party leaders staying on af- ter election losses, and Busuttil im- mediately assumed responsibility for thee PN's loss and announced that he was resigning as leader of the PN and that he would not run for the post again. The rest of the leadership team followed suit. The initial reaction was one of approval and admiration for a man willing to take responsibility for failing in a task he had taken on against all odds. But soon, voices of 'dissent' start- ed making themselves heard. Peo- ple started urging Busuttil to stay, many taking to social media to insist there was no credible, viable alternative waiting in the wings, despite many known MPs being touted for the job. An online peti- tion was also launched, with thou- sands of PN supporters voicing their support within hours. PN candidate Robert Arrigo, elected on the 10th district with the second highest number of first-count votes after Busuttil, was among the first to voice his dissent to the leader's decision. "I am sorry I do not agree with you at all. This was always go- ing to be a long-term project and not merely a four year project," he wrote in an open letter to Busuttil on Facebook. He said that he himself had many falls during his life, but he bit the dust and took up the challenge. He insisted that an organisation should not lose its CEO every few years. "Do you think I have resigned each time Sliema Wanderers FC lost the league or a trophy final? Should I have closed our hotel because of low occupancy during a particular year? Should I have Euro far-right secretary gets front row seat at Castille victory bash MATTHEW VELLA IN October, Sharon Ellul Bonici flew the flag of the European Al- liance for Freedom at a dem- onstration in Warsaw, standing shoulder to shoulder with right- wing MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke, the bow-tie wearing chauvinist who told Brussels that women were "smaller, weaker and less in- telligent" and should not be paid as much as men. As secretary-general of the EAF, a European party that until re- cently grouped together most far- right MEPs, Ellul Bonici remains active on the fringe of euroscep- tic politics. But on Monday, the 46-year- old former Labour candidate was in Castille, enjoying the views of the adulating crowd that came to greet Prime Minister Joseph Muscat after he took the oath of office for the second time. She was also on the stage at Labour's last mass meeting in Hal-Far on Thursday last week. It is jarring to consider that one of Europe's most success- ful social-democrat parties is so carefree about hosting a far-right activist with strong links to politi- cians hostile to the European Un- ion like Marine le Pen. But Ellul Bonici, who was also granted backstage access at La- bour's final Hal-Far mass meet- ing, is the sister of Labour can- didate Andy Ellul, and she has a long relationship with Labour. In 2002, she campaigned against EU membership with the Campaign for National Independence and No2EU, when Labour was then against EU accession. In 2009, when Joseph Muscat – who left his MEP's post to become La- bour leader – reversed Labour's anti-EU agenda, she was allowed to run on a Labour ticket in the European elections, even though she had served as vice-president of the now-defunct eurosceptic party EUDemocrats, which she founded with Danish MEP Jens- Peter Bonde. Her drift to the right took her further closer to politicians like the Front National's Marine Le Pen and the Netherlands' Geert Wilders, who up until 2014 joined forces to create the Euro- pean Alliance for Freedom pan- European party. As secretary-general, Ellul Bo- nici registered the EAF at the Maltese offices of a Birkirkara notary and the grouping also is registered as a Maltese NGO. In 2014, the party brought to- gether far-right leaders such as Italy's Lega Nord's Matteo Sal- vini and Austria's Freedom Par- ty's Franz Obermayr, who is the EAF's president. However, when the EAF failed to secure a minimum 25 MEPs from seven EU member states, its member MEPs had to start off the 2014 parliamentary term as 'non- inscrits'. Le Pen and Wilders were unable to convince UKIP's Nigel Farage and other conserva- tives to join. The EAF died a silent death, although it still exists as a legal The battle to convince Simon Busuttil to stay is being fought online Exit, stage left: from left, Paula Mifsud Bonnici, Ann Fenech, Mario de Mario, Simon Busuttil, Beppe Fenech Adami, Rosette Thake and Karol Aquilina said they would tender their resignation and not recontest the election for their posts Exit, stage left: from left, Paula Mifsud Bonnici, Ann Fenech, Mario de Mario, Simon Busuttil, Beppe Fenech Adami, Rosette Thake and Karol Aquilina said they would tender their resignation and not recontest the election for their posts