Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/838705
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 JUNE 2017 15 Interview The Nationalist Party needs a leader who can convey a sense of trust and conviction; but it also needs to rediscover its Christian Democratic roots. Former Finance Minister TONIO FENECH outlines the existentialist crisis facing the PN today conservative element, too – on certain issues like gay marriage. He has the power of conviction, which is what the Nationalist Party also needs. It needs to find the right leader; one who not only has be- liefs and ideas of where to lead the country; but also – in today's real- ity – the ability to sell those beliefs and convictions. And people will accept even what they don't think is the norm, if they trust the per- son enough to give him the con- fidence and the vote. This is what we are seeing today. I don't think Maltese society is as stereotypical as it is made out to be: that 'we're all liberal', or 'all conservative'. I think we're a very mixed society; but a society that needs leadership. When you have a leader, people will follow... Eddie Fenech Adami was clearly a role model for you. Would you agree that the standards of leadership within the Nationalist Party have declined somewhat since he stepped down in 2004? I can't agree because I have a very high opinion of Lawrence Gonzi: I worked with him very closely for 10 years, and I believe he was one of the best prime ministers Malta ever had, in some of the toughest time this country passed through. The crisis of 2008-2012 was the biggest crisis we had had in 80 years – not the usual economic cycle – and I think we handled it very well. You may not agree with [Gonzi] on a lot of issues, but I would say he was a very strong leader: one I hold in very high es- teem... And Simon Busuttil? I don't think Simon would not have been a good leader. Had he been given the chance, he would possibly have made a very good prime minister... But he was given a chance, and he lost by an even greater majority... ... but I think certain mistakes were made. The first big mistake the PN made in the last legisla- ture was that it missed out on cer- tain key issues. I understand that Simon and the new leadership team wanted to show that this was something 'new'. It was important: a break with the past was needed. But it was not enough to say 'we're new; we're not associated with the past'. Because in reality, not all the past was wrong. Having been 25 years in government, I think we must have done some things right... for the people to re-elect us over and over again. So while it was good to own up to past mistakes... it was wrong to try to be seen as some- thing completely 'new'. To stop talking about the past altogether. What happened as a result? Jo- seph Muscat seized on it, very intelligently, and started saying that the PN had done nothing in 25 years. Whatever new law he enacted, he said: 'the Nationalists had 25 years to do this, and never did'. Same with every new project. The truth, however, is that we did a lot of other things. That is how it always will be: there will be a lot of other things a future government will do, that this government never did. Obviously, because you can't do everything. So what actually happened was that the PN lost the opportunity to prove that it had the ability to govern. People started perceiving the PN as a party that was, un- fortunately, 'against everything'... which did not have any proposals of its own... and OK, it published several policy documents. But it never really pushed those docu- ments forward. Instead, it limited itself to just fighting the element of corruption. Corruption was an important is- sue; but alone, it can never win an election. I spoke to families which told me: 'I had difficulty in con- vincing my [first-time voter] chil- dren to vote Nationalist, because they responded that the PN, in 25 years, had never done anything.' They passed through a schooling system that was built by the Na- tionalist Party; they went to uni- versity, or MCAST, or ITS... built by Nationalist governments. They use a telecommunications system introduced by the PN. But because we were absent for four years... never talking about the pre-2013 years, when we were in government... when these voters were 15 or 16, all they ever heard was the Labour Party saying we had done nothing for 25 years... and us saying nothing about it. Un- less you speak about what the Na- tionalist party achieved in 25 years, nobody will remember it. So the PN's break with the past was too complete? Yes. And this is the opposite of what Joseph Muscat did when he became PL leader. The first thing he did was go and hug Alex Sce- berras Trigona, Joe Grima... all the people Nationalists regarded as 'dinosaurs' from the Mintoff years. But Muscat realised that, unless you have ALL the party engaged... everyone pushing for the same mission... and also showing that he was capable of bringing in new talent, while also utilising experi- ence... then he will never regain power. And this is what the Na- tionalist party needs, too. tion