One year, 100 days, two leaders, one nation

Beyond attempting to dissect every little action and decision by our political leaders, it would be fitting to evaluate their performance without the need to decimate them, more so after the first 365 days of Robert Abela and the first 100 days of Bernard Grech.

To start with, both political leaders fall in the category of ‘what you see, is what you get’.

Both Robert and Bernard were elected to their posts in the same year, and never led their parties in a national election. Both of them are lawyers and more or less of the same age.

It is true Robert Abela was an MP before becoming leader, but before 2013 he was not at the forefront of Labour politics.

Bernard Grech too was never associated with the inner workings of the PN and was simply known for his radio and TV appearances. No one would have ever expected their accomplishment in politics in such a short time and period.

There are similarities in the way they yearn to change the party and set aside the old-timers that orbit in the parties.

Robert Abela’s honeymoon as party leader and Prime Minister was cut short by the COVID pandemic. In record time, he was faced with an economic and health crisis that no one would have anticipated. It threw his plans into disarray, but he still managed to address other important issues of governance and to implement the reforms that still needed addressing.

He also realised that he needed to surround himself with loyalists, but later on in the day he realised that it was not only a question of loyalty but also about managerial competence.

His December Cabinet reshuffle was at the heart of this change. And changes bring discord and anger. Nevertheless, Robert Abela went ahead.

And then he went a step further, unwilling to be dictated by electoral constraints, and co-opted a heavyweight MEP, Miriam Dalli, his closest aide Clyde Caruana and just this very week, CRPD commissioner Oliver Scicluna.

Abela is probably somewhere halfway along the learning curve but he will get there. He only needs to be less sensitive to criticism, and believe that his ministers will back him, not stab him in the back, that bridges are built over time but can be burnt in seconds, and that people vote on the economy and only like winners, not losers.

Apart from that, he needs to be his own man. On that I am sure he is in agreement.

But as I have said in previous columns, he needs to utilise the great potential of yesteryear and that means using valued individuals while at the same time making use of new faces.

From a political standpoint, he needs to kick-start the process of regeneration in the post-COVID period and implement policies that will reinvigorate the economy and the feelgood factor. And he needs to think about his legacy. What will that be? That is something he has to ponder on with a clear vision of where he can take his party and government.

Bernard Grech on the other hand faces a dismembered political party, one that has not been able to come to terms with two landslide defeats in 2013 and 2017; defeats that have left it without a cause and for too long a time, changed into a party that is reactive rather than visionary and intuitive.

It is also plagued with the perception of being a one-issue party in view of the events that surrounded the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination and the Panama Papers revelations. These are two events that remain an open book and will make people less interested in following the political discourse.

Slaughtered in the elections by the Muscat machine, the Nationalist party went through a time of great despair. But Grech has surely brought back some normality and hope. It is still a far cry from the party that stood before the electorate in 2004. A cursory look at the latest MaltaToday survey numbers shows that the PN base is so badly bruised that it will be difficult to beat Abela in a coming election.

Yet having said this, it cannot be denied that Grech has regained electoral ground for the PN and has taken the PN leadership away from the caricature of Adrian Delia or the doom and gloom of Simon Busuttil.

Grech has also made it a point to avoid confrontational politics. Yet he is anchored to a parliamentary group which is dominated by the ageing faces of the past. And he is burdened by an image of the PN which he desperately needs to adjust and tune to modern aspirations. It is a task which is very difficult due to the obstinacy of many members unwilling to make way for younger blood.

Shrewdly he has opened the doors to the business community after years of neglect at the hands of Busuttil. Nonetheless, Grech has a gargantuan task fighting the perception that when it comes to the economy, Labour is better suited as the overseer of the economy. That is a hard nut to crack.

What I do know, is that fundamentally, the two political parties have two party leaders which are innately committed to taking this country forward. Committed to profoundly improving the quality of life in this country.

So let me for once, wish them well in their undertaking in this cruel and difficult world of politics. What we need is a sense of normality. A belief that being in politics is not for personal gain. This country may have different parties, but we are too small to construct trenches that separate us.

More importantly, they have to focus on returning it to a booming economy. But not at the expense of governance issues and social and environmental considerations. Noble thoughts perhaps, but surely not something that cannot be achieved.