Being there

Last Sunday was next to surreal. Really, it was like the congress from a communist party from the 70s. Adulation of the leader and being in complete denial was the trademark of the whole Sunday morning event.

I followed the speeches - everyone made an effort not to mention Franco Debono. It was as if Debono did not exist. As if he was not the cause of all this. As if the whole issue was concocted by someone else.

In reality, Debono is the root of this problem, though everyone - including the very impressive Paul Borg Olivier - did not even make a reference to the wayward backbencher.

We can of course accuse Labour of being the cause of this crisis. But, hand on heart, we know it is not the case. Let's face it: it was Debono who catalysed the crisis. And it was Lawrence Gonzi who mishandled it. Debono was taken for granted, and then ignored. The rest is history.

The surreal part was not only the blind worship for Lawrence Gonzi from all those who spoke at the congress - which was way too disproportionate and incredibly over the top - but moreover, the decision to open a contest for a leader when the leader effectively did not step down - and yet still wished to remain leader - was really nothing but a sick joke.

Blind worship for a man who talks of the pre-1987 period as if he were there at the barricades, on the front line with all those who sacrificed themselves against Mintoffian tyranny, is rather comical.

In reality, Gonzi was conspicuous before 1987 for simply for not being around. He was simply not there. And yet he talks as if he were a Tal-Barrani veteran. He talks as if he were a PN militant sweating it out and making personal sacrifices.

I am not quite sure what Lawrence Gonzi is getting at, but he knows there will be no contestants. There will be no one to challenge him.

To tell you the truth, the PN statute (if I read it right) does not require the leadership contestant to be a PN member, so I have to confess that I am seriously considering standing as a contestant myself. Indeed, I have found 10 PN members (three of whom are PN parliamentarians) who will be nominating me! Do you think I have a chance?

EU Commissioner John Dalli's comment that nobody but the incumbent will take part in this event, speaks volumes. Dalli knows that to win a leadership contest you need to convince the 850 counsellors.  Since 2004, all the counsellors have been moulded to be loyal to one person. And that person is the leader.

Many PN committees are usually uncontested and many of the counsellors on these committees are pushed into this position by those who orbit around Gonzi. The Prime Minister - who always makes it a point to talk about himself - said that he would support the person who would be chosen as leader.

In other words, he would support himself, because it is he who will be the next leader, and he knows it.

It is he who will have an overwhelming vote of faith and solidarity in an exercise that one usually reads about when delving into the political history of Hanoi, Pyongyang, Baghdad or Tehran.

Gonzi's attempt to be magnanimous did not go down well with those who have been stranded and left out in the cold since 2004. Those who were Nationalists, but who were not on his side, have been quietly sidelined (in other words: sent off).

Magnanimity has not been the hallmark of Lawrence Gonzi. In his new of doing politics, tolerance for any form of dissidence is treated with zero tolerance. 

The men who selected and 'designed' Gonzi - who were RCC and Joe Saliba - were not interested in the track record of their new leader but rather in his potential to win.

Today no one has the proverbial balls to turn round and tell him that he is a liability to the PN. That this farce will drive the economy into the ground.

It may be cruel to make a comparison to Mubarak et al, but in reality these kind of contests only happen in nations where one finds one party, one leader and one creed.

And if Gonzi wants to brag about Libya, he'd better start paying attention to today's Libya with its present record of internecine killings, rapes, robberies and its total breakdown in law and order. (It is really quite okay to say we removed the tyrant Gaddafi even though we sucked up to him when he was still in power, but nobody seems to be asking what is happening to Libya now).

Gonzi has given the impression that he is doing all this for the good of the country. Well, if no one in the party or government has the balls to turn round to the prime minister and tell him that this procrastination and the decision not to tackle the Franco Debono problem is neutralising economic activity in Malta, I will.

It is really killing economic initiative, and people are simply scared to spend and take bold steps or to initiate business deals. If he does not believe it, he should send out one of his scouts and tell him to come back with some real stories about what is happening out there.

The problem can only be resolved by solving the issue with Franco Debono. If Franco Debono does not fall in line, the Prime Minister can boast of having a Mubarak-styled solidarity vote, but he would have solved nothing.

Debono's reluctance to support the PM in parliament is the issue.

If the Prime Minister decides to plod on and govern with this Franco Debono problem hanging over his head, there is no doubt in my mind that he will unleash the most intense negative reaction against his own party.

In the meantime we are all spectators to this great farce. Be patient, history always repeats itself!