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10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 MAY 2018 NEWS ANALYSIS The PN: searching for an identity AFTER shedding its elitist past in the 1970s, the PN has never been short on unifying battle cries, which helped transform the party into a broad church anchored in the centre-ground of Mal- tese politics. Big issues like ensuring majority rule, liberalising the econo- my and joining the EU dominated the agenda of the party led by Eddie Fenech Adami. This and a reputation for eco- nomic competence gave the party the edge over a Labour Party plagued by memories of Mintoffian autarky. Yet since EU membership the party has found itself facing a crisis of iden- tity, which was only postponed by a wafer-thin majority in 2008 against a Labour Party still led by the euroscep- tic Alfred Sant. Labour's transformation under Mus- cat into a more business-friendly and socially liberal party, and his appeal to different segments of PN voters broke the PN's long-standing hegemony. By moving deep into PN territory – taking the guise of a socially liberal version of Eddie Fenech Adami's PN, Muscat has deepened the PN's crisis. From Busuttil to Delia Under former MEP Simon Busut- til the PN tried to broaden its appeal by adopting good governance as its battle-cry, which has been at least in part vindicated by the latest Daphne Project revelations. Yet while this may have attracted back some floaters and Labour voters disappointed by Pan- amagate, Labour still managed to win by the same margin as in 2013, having consolidated its reputation as a good manager of the economy and thus at- tracting more former PN voters. "After its second consecutive drub- bing and an internal acrimonious pro- cess in nominating its top brass, the party is not only experiencing an iden- tity crisis related to what the party real- ly stands for, but alas also an existential unease," says Albert Buttigieg, the PN's outspoken deputy mayor in St Julian's, when asked about his party's quest for a new identity. After struggling to cement his leader- ship and with the party still prone to di- visions which erupt from time to time, new leader Adrian Delia has offered some clues on his party's new identity, which are more in tune with social con- servatives on issues like abortion and the defence of life from conception, and with popular concerns on security and immigration. But Delia still strug- gles on issues like IVF where the party's pro-life stance comes in conflict with the realities faced by childless couples. Going local Some clues on the party's future identity can be found in Delia's emphasis on national iden- tity vis-à-vis the growing number of foreign workers and the party's increased concern with law and or- der, reflected in a recently approved document on local councils. The document empha- sises "the need for more security in our localities in the face of a wave of crime affecting certain are- as" and refers to "fundamental demo- graphic changes" affecting local com- munities. The document steers away from far rightist rhetoric and advocates integration but expects foreign com- munities "to understand, participate and adapt to local traditions." But in line with the party's centrist orientation it also emphasises "subsidi- arity, solidarity, devolution of power and the protection of the most vulnerable" as the party's per- ennial values. It calls for "ring- fenced" social expenditure at local level and a devolution of power through greater fund- ing for local councils. Clearly the party is ticking concerns emerging from surveys measuring popu- lar concern which show how people are more wor- ried than even over foreign workers, traffic, crime and over development. Tapping the immigration concern Yet although tempting for any Op- position party, tapping the concern on foreign residents and workers may also be tricky for a party that in the past has always stood for openness and a rejec- tion of xenophobia. The Opposition may find itself walk- ing on a tight-rope between address- ing popular concerns and reaching out to the business community, which includes segments that benefit from rampant construction and, from the availability of foreign workers at both ends of the labour market. Delia him- self was reminded of this reality during a visit to Farsons during which he was told that without foreign workers the company would not have been able to cope with last year's export demands. Yet concern on the social, environ- mental and infrastructural problems caused by a rapid and unplanned in- crease in population (an increase of 40,000 between 2012 and 2016) cannot be dismissed as sheer racism but may reflect concerns on rising rents and the presence of seasonal mi- grants with little sense of be- longing. Gudja councillor and PN candidate Mark Anthony Sammut conjures an al- ternative vision which taps on the present-day concerns of the Maltese. "This government has furthered eco- nomic growth not by finding new in- dustries or new niches which provide more high-paying jobs; it has furthered it by encouraging an influx of low-paid foreign workers." He asks whether Malta's economic prosperity can be solely based on rais- ing our population, with all its negative effects on our quality of life, infrastruc- ture, traffic congestion, pollution, increasing rate of criminality and strain on the environ- ment. But if it chooses to tick the migration box, the PN may be opening a can of worms. For while Mark Anthony Sam- mut manages to express this sentiment in a sober way, others may find themselves threading on xenophobia as soon as they open their mouth on the issue. Delivering prosperity One pitfall for the Opposition is that merely exploiting the new concerns of the public does not cancel the need to reassure the public that it will con- tinue delivering on the economic front The PN's quest for a battle-cry Now trounced in two consecutive elections, the he Nationalist Party faces a crucial question: What does it stand for? JAMES DEBONO speaks to three PN representatives and explores the PN's elusive search for identity Mark Anthony Sammut Michael Briguglio JAMES DEBONO