Bernard Grech’s reactive reshuffle

1.  By announcing the change, a week after Abela tweaked his cabinet, Grech sounded reactive.

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has started the year by announcing his line-up of ‘spokespersons’. The move came after Robert Abela tweaked his own Cabinet a week earlier.

Grech’s move was intended to grab the headlines and send a message that the Opposition means business as an alternative government. But coming just a week after the Prime Minister’s reshuffle, Grech also appeared reactive, underlining Abela’s ability to set the agenda for the Opposition.

One particularly reactive move was the inclusion of public cleansing to Eve Borg Bonello’s climate change portfolio, in what could presage a showdown between Labour’s Glenn Bedingfield and the young tenth district MP.

Grech could have avoided this perception by announcing his own reshuffle at a later stage to make it somewhat of an own initiative rather then a tit for tat reaction to Abela’s moves. He could also have been more imaginative in carving out a shadow cabinet which gives an idea of what a future PN government cabinet would look like while also addressing public concerns on themes like planning -retained by Stanley Zammit and inflation. The cost-of-living portfolio now awarded to Ivan Castillo along with the maritime sector and social dialogue, could have been a standalone position although the link with maritime affairs makes sense in view of concern on shipping costs. And since the cost of living issue impacts on stakeholders, so does the link with social dialogue.  

2.  This is less of a shadow cabinet and more of an exercise in keeping everyone on board.

By announcing his reshuffle days after Abela, Grech invited comparisons between his line-up and Abela’s Cabinet, which are essentially two entirely different things.

Once again Grech included all 34 PN MPs in his line-up of spokespersons, thus avoiding offending any of his MPs but diluting the idea of a ‘shadow cabinet’ or a government in waiting.  In this sense Grech has not invented the wheel and oppositions have always struggled to find a balance between including all MPs and presenting a strong front bench.

One can argue that appointing a fully-fledged shadow cabinet is still premature for an Opposition which is still finding its feet after three consecutive mega electoral defeats. But this begs the question; how can the Opposition recover if it is not perceived as a government in waiting?

Grech could have avoided this by creating a hierarchy which includes both shadow ministers responsible for a wider portfolio and junior spokespersons responsible for specific sectors.  This would also create a sense of meritocracy, giving Grech the chance to promote spokespersons who perform well to the role of shadow ministers.   

But by giving a role to everyone without making any distinctions, Grech seems to have preferred keeping the peace and avoid resentments among those who feel left out.

Moreover, having 34 spokespersons also creates a confusion and leads to replication of roles. For example, the PN has a spokesperson for the economy (Jermone Caruana Cilia), another for new economic sectors (Ivan J Bartolo) and another for SMEs and small businesses (Robert Cutajar).

It also has a spokesperson for pensions (Ivan Bartolo), another for social security (Albert Buttigieg), a spokesperson for social policy (Stephen Spiteri) and another for poverty reduction (Ivan Bartolo).

The PN also has separate spokespersons for transport (Mark Anthony Falzon) and infrastructure (Joe Giglio) even if the two roles are correlated.   While Giglio’s transfer from home affairs is understandable in view of possible conflict with his profession as a criminal lawyer, twinning infrastructure and transport may have made more sense in view of the party’s commitment in favour of a mass transport system.

3. Grech has addressed the weakness of his front bench on finance and economic matters, but Graham Bencini still needs to prove himself.

Graham Bencini a chartered accountant has replaced Jerome Caruana Cilia as Clyde Caruana’s counterpart. On his part Jerome Caruana Cilia, one of the most popular newcomers elected in 2022, has been handed the economy portfolio.

This means Caruana Cilia will not be responsible anymore for leading the Opposition’s critique of the annual budget. But while Caruana Cilia lacked the gravitas and experience to confront Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, it is doubtful whether Bencini has the attributes to reverse this deficit. In this sense Grech’s choices are conditioned by the PN’s limited talent pool which lacks seasoned political economists whose knowledge of finance is not limited to banking and accounting but is focused on national development. This makes any match up with Clyde Caruana - who is both an economist and a seasoned politician - difficult for the PN.  The only way to address this shortcoming is to find an economist from outside the parliamentary group to join the team in an advisory role.  In contrast the PN has a strong representation of engineers like Mark Anthony Sammut who is now responsible for transport, Ryan Callus who is responsible for energy and Stanley Zammit who shadows planning. This could give the party a boost in coming up with a more cohesive national development strategy.

4.  Former leader Adrian Delia finds himself shadowing health in what was seen as a reward for winning the Vitals case in the law courts. But does this make him the best choice to serve as shadow health minister?

Adrian Delia has proved his credentials as a good lawyer and a strong-willed politician, when he won a court case which effectively revoked the Vitals concession. But that does not necessarily mean he is particularly competent on the running of the public health sector. By shifting Delia away from transport, Grech has deployed one of his most popular spokespersons to shadow government on a topic on which there is hardly any political controversy. As a seasoned politician Delia may start at an advantage against newcomer Jo Etienne Abela who was first elected to parliament in 2022.

In this sense, Fearne’s departure could be an advantage for Delia.  And as someone not hailing from the medical profession, Delia may be in a better position to look at the sector from the eyes of the general public.   But understanding the complex dynamics of the sector and the problems faced by stakeholders, may be a learning curve for the popular Nationalist lawyer.  Delia’s conservative position on issues like embryo freezing, surrogacy and reproductive rights could also condition the party’s response on these issues. And after winning the Vitals case, it remains to be seen what position the party will be taking on public private partnerships in the health sector.

5. Darren Carabott is the party’s rising star but as shadow minister for home affairs he needs to tackle the immigration hot potato.

Darren Carabott has distinguished himself in chairing the Public Accounts Committee with dignity avoiding unnecessary confrontation with officials grilled by the committee while asking pertinent questions. He now finds himself ‘promoted’ from spokesperson on local government to spokesperson on home affairs, a post he has taken from criminal lawyer Joe Giglio. 

In shadowing home affairs, Carabott will have to articulate a discourse on the thorny migration issue. The PN has often found itself on a slippery slope, by trying to pander to rising anti-immigrant sentiment while still paying lip service to the humanitarian values the party supposedly still cherishes.  Yet a coherent discourse on migration also requires input from other spokespersons including Ivan J Bartolo who shadows employment and Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici whose portfolio now includes human rights.  But ultimately it is Bernard Grech who needs to find the right balance.

6. Little effort to project women as front benchers.

All seven women MPs sitting on the Opposition benches are represented in the shadow cabinet as are all men.  But there was little effort to nurture women in the unofficial front bench. Women are also notably absent in portfolios associated with the economy, the infrastructure and energy and are mostly concentrated on environmental, social and cultural sectors.   

7. The reshuffle evades the greatest question facing the party; which is Grech’s own future as leader.

After being trounced in the last general election, Bernard Grech has stoically remained at the helm, mostly because of the sheer lack of alternatives, but at the risk of projecting a lame duck leadership.  The question facing the party remains: Should Grech be re-shuffling his shadow cabinet, or should he be the one to be reshuffled?

Still, with no changes expected on that front and before mid-terms in June, Grech has no choice but to soldier on. Still, Grech has at least managed to restore a degree of peace and harmony in his own house by being inclusive. But will the peace last beyond MEP elections? Only time will tell.