PN factions gearing for showdown as currents prepare 'update' to principles

The general council has been summoned at a crucial time for Gonzi, who is under tremendous pressure following last month’s divorce referendum result.

Already caught between liberal-leaning MPs and a largely conservative cabinet, the Prime Minister is now also burdened with his predecessor’s influence on both party and government.

Last Saturday, PN grandee Eddie Fenech Adami drew the battle lines by spelling out his view that Gonzi should block divorce despite the referendum result. Speaking on Radju Malta, President Emeritus Eddie Fenech Adami reiterated his warnings of Malta taking “the downhill” path to secularism, in which he conjured up the fears of abortion and gay marriages, adding that “once you take that route downwards and throw away principles… there’s no stopping it. I have no doubt gay marriages should not be allowed.”

Fenech Adami is rumoured to be considering an attendance at next weekend’s general council: a move that would certainly upstage the event.

Senior Nationalist Party officials are at work to cushion the impact of any possible showdown between the liberal and conservative factions.

Sliema deputy mayor and gay-rights activist Cyrus Engerer is expected to take the podium and insist on the need for the party to move forward and take stock of the people’s message in last month’s referendum.

“The party must not continue to shoot itself in the foot and risk a further haemorrhage of voters who have strongly voted in favour of a clear separation between Church and State,” he said yesterday, adding that “the value of democracy comes before morals.”

The party’s information director Frank Psaila apparently threw Engerer a life-line, with a newspaper article appealing for the party not to lose its much-needed liberal faction.

Austin Gatt and Tonio Fenech, both cabinet ministers known for their conservative stands, are expected to take the podium on Sunday, while MP Beppe Fenech Adami is expected to address the general council on Friday.

All three have been the most vociferous against the introduction of divorce, and are prepared to vote against the divorce bill in parliament.

Their statements are expected to be representative of the conservative faction within the party and will be making themselves clear on the matter.

This situation has prompted the PN youth movement (MZPN) to issue a statement on Saturday that urged Parliament to vote in favour of the introduction of divorce, to reflect democracy and guarantee that the people’s will is respected.

MŻPN said the people’s democratic will had been expressed in the referendum when the absolute majority voted in favour of divorce legislation. Contacted yesterday, MZPN President Kevin Plumpton stressed that the statement was not a hint at the Prime Minister, but a message to “all Parliament.”

Meanwhile MaltaToday is informed that the MZPN has taken the initiative to work on a number of proposals that are expected to be presented to the party leadership for consideration and talk about “updating” the party’s basic principles.

A similar initiative is also in the making within the PN’s political think-tank AZAD, which – through its chairman Simon Busuttil – is also discussing a political document which also proposes a discussion on updating the party’s basic principles.

MaltaToday is informed that both MZPN and AZAD’s initiatives have so far not been officially communicated to the party leadership, but are representative of the currents for change that are pushing from within.