GonziPN in total meltdown

The Heat is on! Actually it has been so, at full power for quite some time. The behaviour of GonziPN and indeed of all his core group, has now brought the Nationalist Party to a state of total meltdown.

Speaking after the decision to ban the three dissenting MPs from contesting the next election on the Nationalist Party ticket, Gonzi’s main concern was the length of the current legislature. He said that when Parliament reconvenes on the 1^st October, there are a number of important bills, though he forgot to mention that the Government has to prepare a budget. He does not seem to care whether he has a Parliamentary majority or otherwise. He is obsessed with clinging to power to the very end.

The situation, however, is not as simplistic as Gonzi makes it out to be. The party in government has removed any semblance of stability in the country. This latest development further complicates matters. GonziPN has embraced totalitarian polices reminiscent of totalitarian regimes. It does not allow any form of criticism and anybody who dares contradict the GonziPN clique is punished. The government had pretended that some sort of reconciliation with Franco Debono was arrived at. Gonzi himself had said that internal strife was a closed chapter. The real intentions of the PN core group in that respect have now been unmasked. They used and abused Franco Debono and as soon as the Parliamentary summer recess was called they threw one of their own to the dogs. One must ask Gonzi what was meant by closed chapter?

A serious constitutional crisis could well arise. According to Dr. Gonzi the party did not expel the three dissident MPs. It has made it clear that it does not want them as part of the PN team in the next legislature. This was ‘unanimously agreed’ by their peers in a show of hands. If any one of these three MPs were to resign from the PN Parliamentary group and not the PN, that is where there would be serious repercussions. The PN Parliamentary group would be in a minority and the President of Malta would have to consider whether the Prime Minister has a majority or not. Gonzi cannot call another vote of confidence; it would be both frivolous and vexatious. So what would happen?

GonziPN’s meltdown is at an advanced stage. The heat is also coming from within. How can a prime minister be credible when he himself, practically contradicts his own words? How can a prime minister expect to give the country stability when he does not have this stability within his own party? How can a party leader bury his head in the sand and practically dismantle a powerful and important political party?

A number of ‘old-time’ nationalists can see the difference. They are concerned that their party has again relied on the big bullies of the ‘blue-jackets’. They are unhappy at the close association of party leaders with people who write hate mail and that the PN condones such writing (Daphne Caruana Galizia). The same people are also upset that the party has not kept the dignity that it was renowned for by accepting the unacceptable in order to cling to power for as long as possible. But the most worrying factor, to them and to all the people of Malta and Gozo is that Gonzi has made a mockery of democracy. He is running the country through propaganda machines that hide the excessive debt that GonziPN has amassed for the country; that he does not heed people’s advice and that he has lost touch with the people.

This scenario has created a lot of instability. The country is officially in a recession and the debt is ever on the increase. The deficit is way off mark and the country is heading for troubled waters with this government’s money-no-problem attitude. On the other side of the coin, the Labour Party is preparing diligently for an improved economic situation with a fair distribution of social justice. The Labour Party in government can and will make a difference, by providing a positive approach to repairing the rift created by GonziPN between the government and its people. Dr. Gonzi has led the country and his party to unprecedented lows. Both party and government are in total meltdown and with a prolonged Gonzi government, Malta runs the risk of being contaminated with the GonziPN meltdown.