Gripped by internal dissent, PN did not look outwards - Borg Olivier

The Nationalist leadership made a fatal error in looking inwards when it failed to get to grips with its internal dissent, outgoing secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier has admitted.

In an interview to Radju Malta presenter Andrew Azzopardi on his blog, Borg Olivier said the PN's leadership and the government had sent the people a message that it was "too busy... call me later", because of its own problems with backbenchers and party dissent.

"It was unintentional... we didn't want our party problems to have a negative on the country... it was like a father who doesn't see his kids from day to night."

Despite admitting that this was a difficult election to win, Borg Olivier says the seeds were sown in the losses the party endured in the European elections of 2009 and the 2012 local council elections, where the writing was then already on the wall.

But he disagreed with the words chosen by former MP Jean-Pierre Farrugia, who accused the party of being 'hijacked' and Robert Arrigo, who says the party was taken over by the proverbial 'clique' surrounding Lawrence Gonzi.

"Everybody has a right to their opinion, but 'hijack' is a harsh word... I don't feel my leadership was centered around a clique, or that I was part of a 'clique' that excluded other people. I know that I worked within and for the PN. I don't like the word, let alone would I want to be part of a 'clique'.

"I worked all the way with Farrugia and Arrigo and others. I don't think the fact that I was in my role [as secretary-general] and they were MPs, meant we were in some clique or another. What I know is that between 2009 and 2010 the party was passing through difficult times that we did not recover from," Borg Olivier says, again harking back to internal dissent.

But it was also less than a year after Lawrence Gonzi was re-elected on a relative majority that gave him just one seat over the Opposition, that his backbench started making noise about his leadership style.

"The PN underestimated itself," Borg Olivier says in a reference to the government's track record. "There were people from inside the PN who discredited the party. If you have a chorus it can be difficult to control who is singing from different score sheets. The audience starts to get annoyed and leaves. That's what happened in the PN."

The PN drafted in outside help from its former secretary-general Joe Saliba, although Borg Olivier says that it is he who was responsible for the electoral campaign. "When you take responsibility for the [electoral] result, it does not mean that the result is totally attributed to you," Borg Olivier said in a proviso, suggesting that other people inside the PN and government were to blame for its dismal performance.

Borg Olivier said the PN should now still be guided by its same values but change the way it operates. "The Opposition must first look towards the national interest... a secretary-general must put effective dialogue at the centre of the party's work, as a party that is open."

The Nationalist candidate did not rule out politics altogether. "The PN is my natural home. I won't abandon it."