I shall kick off with what I thought was the first gaff by the new government. I had already expressed my misgivings about Dr Godfrey Farrugia being allocated the Health Ministry in a previous column. It was unfortunate that the item to hit the headlines with a bang, for the new Labour (PL) government, was about the Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia accompanied by his partner MP Marlene Farrugia as his aide. All the work started by the other ministers that week was sidelined by that story.
What on earth were they thinking appearing together and presenting themselves as a double act at the minister’s first press conference, then banning the press? OK, the latter was followed by an apology but the harm was done. Of course she did the right thing by resigning a few days later, but really the repercussions of that move should have been predictable to anyone with political savvy.
A lot of emphasis was put on the fact that Ms Farrugia’s work would have been unpaid by people who saw nothing wrong with the move, but that would be missing the wood for the trees, as I commented on Face book when the story broke, perception is all. However, I doff my cap to Dr Farrugia if he really managed to reduce congestion in the Accident and Emergency Department at Mater Dei Hospital over Easter. I augur that it will be an ongoing improvement.
The Nationalist Party (PN) in Opposition, having previously been in government for a long time, knows how to hog the headlines and the impending election of their new leader is bound to generate interest. What a difference from the last election for a new PN leader, when the other two contenders besides Lawrence Gonzi were Cabinet Ministers with a long, successful background within the PN.
This time round Francis Zammit Dimech is the only one with that background, but not carrying the same clout that John Dalli and Louis Galea had at the time. Francis is a really nice guy and he does put himself about and I mean that in the nicest possible way. As he puts it, “Let’s not put aside the way I communicate with people, I tended to be more in consultation with the party grassroots”.
He was right in saying “We (the PN) were coming across as too negative and emphasising the fear of Labour too much. The emphasis should have been much more on our achievements.” What he might have been better off not saying was, “I think that from a sociological point of view I would have preferred it if divorce had not been introduced.”
That is where the younger generation have the edge. Simon Busuttil might have just got a seat in our parliament but he did so well in the European parliament. It was a shame he lost his cool and sophistication and got sucked in to the PN desperado election mode, recognised by FZD. However, it seems he has lost no kudos within his party and he might carry the crown.
His rallying call, one echoed by all the contenders, which he is repeatedly emphasising is that the PN needed to become the 'people's party' once more.
Mario de Marco is also pledging a party that was not just for the people but also of the people but would like to see less divisive politics. However, his press statements lack Busuttil’s loquacity and the latter appeals to those in the PN who want to keep the lines firmly divided between the two parties. Busuttil has made it know that he would not take kindly to any PN MPs who take up Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's proposal to involve Opposition backbenchers in executive roles. He also made it clear on whom he sees as a possible threat with his warning “it would be a mistake to choose someone without experience or roots in the PN.”
Now, who could that possibly be? Perhaps, someone who more than matches him in international sophistication and eloquence. Which bring us round to the last contender, the previously ‘unknown’ twice divorced businessman Raymond Bugeja now engaged to the more well known Sara Grech.
Like the rest Bugeja also wants to appeal to ‘the people’ and would rename the PN to Malta People's Party (MPP) and in Maltese Partit Popolari Malti (PPM), which in English actually translates to “popular” rather “people’s” party. He claims he is a “conservative with a liberal heart and a capitalist with a social heart” and feels the ‘philanthropic concept’ to serve his country. An accountant by profession he has been on the international circuit and is the owner of the RBG Group (Malta). I did not get much when I Goggled the latter name, other than it gives Sara Grech Limited as a reference; that it is a Trading Company with Hospitality Services in its categories of interest, is located in Msida and employs 11-50 people. Does the latter mean anything between 11 and 50?
It is interesting that he declined to give comments saying he would not be using the media in a tedious way (whatever that may mean) throughout the campaign. His work, he said, was to speak to councillors and not the media.
Oh dear, another one who wants to shut out the media. Meanwhile the public has been invited to give their views on the Nationalist Party's electoral defeat to the commission set up to analyse the result, Maybe they should wait to see who will win the leadership race.
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