Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/869387
23 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2017 Opinion councillors might view that as an intolerable attempt to rig the election in the establishment's favour (as, no doubt, Delia's supporters will forever see it). But they might just as easily agree wholeheartedly, and by now have rejected Adrian Delia with equal unanimity. It all depends on exactly how much importance they will give to each individual consideration. And that, at present, is something entirely hidden from view... not unlike this mysterious 'hand ' that somehow keeps tripping up all the contestants in this election, except one. Speaking of whom: in Chris Said, the PN councillors will no doubt see other, equally important leadership qualities. He comes across as stolid and dependable; he has a proven track record in government; he is shrewd and wily (which make pretty good alternatives to 'combative and resilient', when it comes to winning elections). And he is also generally likeable, which never hurts. The way this election has shaped itself up, however, Chris Said has undeniably been cast in the role of 'continuity' leader. Perhaps unwisely (but then again, who knows?) he even said so himself: with his declaration that he would 'continue the work started by Simon Busuttil '. So it's a tough choice, isn't it? On one hand you have a charismatic warhorse with an evidently enthusiastic grassroots following.... but who also seems to have an entire collection of dinosaur fossils in his cupboard. And on the other, a squeaky-clean career politician who just happens to be the obvious favourite... of an 'establishment' that seems destined to keep losing elections forever. But the really difficult part of the decision is another. How does one 'return to winning ways', anyhow? It's not as though you can just press a button, and... Bingo! Electoral victory guaranteed... I listened long and hard to all four contestants' answers to this question – always trying to maintain that imaginary councillor's perspective – and what emerged was... scary, to say the least. Adrian Delia's vision, in a nutshell, is to go back to the PN of the 1980s. Like the other three, he simply returned to what he (mistakenly, it must be said) thinks are the 'founding principles' of his party, and promised to make them as relevant today as they were 30 years ago. How many times have we heard those words before? 'A party that looks after its own'; 'a party that remembers who the real enemy is'; 'a party that listens to the hurts of its own members'... In other words, a party that defines its existence only by eternal opposition to Labour – and not by any actual ideology of its own – and which maintains its support largely through clientelism. To me, that is an utterly horrif ying vision... far more grievous in its implications that any number of hidden offshore accounts. It will drag us all kicking and screaming right back to the worst times in our recent political history. How can such a thing possibly be described as a 'New Way'? But to a PN councillor? Right now? I don't know. Let us not underestimate the power of nostalgia, when combined with hunger for political power. This might explain why the other three all said roughly the same thing. With Alex Perici Calascione, it was 'returning to Fehmiet Bazici '. With Frank Portelli, 'Back to Basics'. With Chris Said, it was 'reaffirming the party's core principles'. What do all four of those visions have in common? A return to some glorious, forgotten past. It never occurs to them that, if the past was 'glorious', it was precisely because their predecessors had worked hard to transform the party... not to leave it as it was, still less to take it back in time. And if it's 'forgotten' today... well, there might be a perfectly good reason for that, too. The way this election has shaped itself up, Chris Said has undeniably been cast in the role of 'continuity' leader