News • February 8 2004

PM outlines roadmap for next leader

Always a man who chooses his own timing, Eddie Fenech Adami yesterday said it was time for the party and the country to have a new leader so that before the next general elections the new leader "would reap the fruit of all that we worked for."
Although not resigning from the post of Prime Minister, Dr Fenech Adami said he had no intention of staying on for long after the new leader is chosen. He also played down the possibility of him being nominated as next president after Dr Guido de Marco.
"There is a lot of pressure for me to accept that post but this is not my choice and I cannot predict what will happen. But after relieving myself of the political burden I want to relax and enjoy the company of my family," Fenech Adami said.
With ample reference to the party’s Christian values, Eddie Fenech Adami outlined the qualities the new leader should have. "We have always been a popular party, with Christian principles and a staunch belief in solidarity. I expect the new leader to continue this tradition. But apart from adhering to these principles, the new leader must also be competent in practical matters. He should have the expertise to understand the political, social and economical realities the country is going through, and act accordingly."
Asked by a Super One journalist whether he was leaving at one of the lowest points in his career, characterised by the Meinrad Calleja jury, rising unemployment and a stuttering economy, Fenech Adami responded with typical aplomb.
"It is amazing how the Labour Party has campaigned for a drug trafficker (Meinrad Calleja) and turned the whole thing into an obsession. But I reiterate, I performed my duty without fear and without considering the political consequences of the decisions I took," Fenech Adami said with reference to the pardons granted to Joseph Fenech known as Zeppi l-Hafi. He then defended his government’s track record and pronounced himself satisfied with what was achieved.
"The people are also satisfied and have shown this satisfaction in six of the last seven elections by giving the Nationalist Party and absolute majority," Fenech Adami said to resounding applause from the studio audience.
Commenting on the three Labour leaders – Dom Mintoff, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Alfred Sant - he beat at the polls, Fenech Adami acknowledged that they all contributed in some way or another to the repeated victories of the Nationalist Party.
It was the Prime Minister’s final dig at his political adversaries.
During the TV broadcast Fenech Adami also read out a letter he sent to the Nationalist party president in which he asked for the general council to be convened to elect a new leader. The date decided upon by the party executive yesterday morning is Saturday 28 February.
Nominations for the leadership vacancy will open tomorrow and close on 14 February.