The crisis of the Nationalist Party
Gavin Muscat
On the 8th of March 2008, the entire population held its breath and awaited the results of the general election. Could Lawrence Gonzi's leadership lead the Nationalist Party to another victory? A government led by the Labour party had a poor 2 year presence which ended in 1998 when a snap election eventually saw the return of the Nationalist party to the front seat. The 2003 election was once again won by the Nationalist party and just a year later, Malta entered the European Union; something that the Labour Party was against. Many felt that the Nationalist party had managed to modernize the country and adapt to a new world. The Euro was introduced but it was introduced at a tough time as the Global Recession hit most of the world.
But the time finally arrived to announce the results and the winner of the election was the Nationalist Party. Results were extremely close with the Nationalist Party winning by just around 1,500 votes which is why the results were announced at such a late time. Celebrations were in every street and Lawrence Gonzi would lead the party in five more years as the face of Malta. It had seemed that the Nationalist Party was unbeatable. Even when the Labour Party was the main party, these times were marred with heavy emigration due to low wages and lack of opportunities and also with a large amount of social issues. However, despite their victory, the Nationalist Party was concerned with the narrow results. Was this an early sign of a Labour government in the next election and would we ever see another government led by the Labour Party?
Nine years later, the question remains but this time, it applies to the Nationalist Party who was lost both the 2013 and 2017 elections by a very large margin. Despite the accusations of corruption, money laundering and offshore bank accounts, it was evident that the general population had chosen to keep the Labour government. So who could lead the Nationalist Party if it seemed that the Labour Party had gained such a large advantage over them? Even traditionally Nationalist towns such as Mosta and San Pawl would become hotly contested and just a few days ago, the council in San Pawl officially lost its PN majority.
So what is causing these internal struggles in the Nationalist party? New leader Adrian Delia has already faced accusations of offshore banking and the more Conservative side of the party are now debating whether he is fit to lead the party while the liberal side are still in favour of Delia's leadership.
So this begs the question. Will this crisis lead to a new party that will challenge both the Nationalist party and the Labour Party thus bringing an end to the two-party system in Malta? We will have to wait and see on whether this occurs as a split in the party could either gift an even large advantage to the Labour Party or present a new opponent to the Labour Party.
On the 8th of March 2008, the entire population held its breath and awaited the results of the general election. Could Lawrence Gonzi's leadership lead the Nationalist Party to another victory? A government led by the Labour party had a poor 2 year presence which ended in 1998 when a snap election eventually saw the return of the Nationalist party to the front seat. The 2003 election was once again won by the Nationalist party and just a year later, Malta entered the European Union; something that the Labour Party was against. Many felt that the Nationalist party had managed to modernize the country and adapt to a new world. The Euro was introduced but it was introduced at a tough time as the Global Recession hit most of the world.
But the time finally arrived to announce the results and the winner of the election was the Nationalist Party. Results were extremely close with the Nationalist Party winning by just around 1,500 votes which is why the results were announced at such a late time. Celebrations were in every street and Lawrence Gonzi would lead the party in five more years as the face of Malta. It had seemed that the Nationalist Party was unbeatable. Even when the Labour Party was the main party, these times were marred with heavy emigration due to low wages and lack of opportunities and also with a large amount of social issues. However, despite their victory, the Nationalist Party was concerned with the narrow results. Was this an early sign of a Labour government in the next election and would we ever see another government led by the Labour Party?
Nine years later, the question remains but this time, it applies to the Nationalist Party who was lost both the 2013 and 2017 elections by a very large margin. Despite the accusations of corruption, money laundering and offshore bank accounts, it was evident that the general population had chosen to keep the Labour government. So who could lead the Nationalist Party if it seemed that the Labour Party had gained such a large advantage over them? Even traditionally Nationalist towns such as Mosta and San Pawl would become hotly contested and just a few days ago, the council in San Pawl officially lost its PN majority.
So what is causing these internal struggles in the Nationalist party? New leader Adrian Delia has already faced accusations of offshore banking and the more Conservative side of the party are now debating whether he is fit to lead the party while the liberal side are still in favour of Delia's leadership.
So this begs the question. Will this crisis lead to a new party that will challenge both the Nationalist party and the Labour Party thus bringing an end to the two-party system in Malta? We will have to wait and see on whether this occurs as a split in the party could either gift an even large advantage to the Labour Party or present a new opponent to the Labour Party.
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