Feature • February 22 2004

John Dalli: Looking ahead
John Dalli has a lot at stake in the upcoming election of the Nationalist Party leader and eventual Prime Minister. He was the first to express interest in becoming PN leader years ago, when Eddie Fenech Adami was still crusading for EU membership. Now he faces deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, whose close relationship with Fenech Adami makes him somewhat of a ‘half-incumbent.’
Dalli’s portrayal as taxman for the last ten years, has faced the common hostile perception many have of any finance minister. Dalli is unfazed: “I don’t think this is a negative factor. In this case, the election is not based on a national suffrage but on the PN’s councillors, 870 individuals who can think and who are weighing the candidates not on the basis of their ministerial portfolios. They are weighing them on the basis of the effort the candidates have poured into the Nationalist Party, their capabilities for leading the government, and their ability to bring about another electoral victory.
“That is why some of the surveys which have been carried out over a national sample are biased. In that case John Dalli is naturally seen as the one wearing the uniform of finance minister.”
The intensification of the contest between Gonzi and Dalli has seen much speculation mounting on the future of the two ministers, and what plans they have with the formation of the cabinet. Dalli denies, categorically, that if he is elected PN leader the post for deputy leader would be up for grabs, stating he would be keeping Lawrence Gonzi as deputy Prime Minister.
“As regards the cabinet, we should see which are the best elements within the parliamentary group. I certainly know the ministers in the cabinet since I have worked very closely with them. However, I don’t know the other parliamentarians that much since I have worked less with them.
“Thankfully, since the Prime Minister will not be resigning straight away as premier, this transition period would give time for an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of everyone in the parliamentary group. What must also be seen is the formation of the cabinet, since this will not necessarily remain the same once a new Prime Minister takes control.
“Decisions will be taken as time and circumstances demand. I haven’t thought about reshuffling the cabinet, we have to take it one step at a time. Naturally there will be two ministerial vacancies with the election of a new Prime Minister and the departure of Foreign Minister Joe Borg.”
Dalli already knows that if elected party leader, his ministerial portfolio will be passed on to somebody else, although he is counting on reviving the symbiosis he enjoyed with Eddie Fenech Adami, who having studied economics himself, could always confer and discuss matters with Dalli.
And he has also made radical statements by saying he would only remain leader-elect for ten years, upon which he would be giving back the reigns of power to the next generation, as he calls it, even if he would have steered the PN to another electoral victory at the end of that tenure:
“This is my way of doing things. Within my private life, within my career, within the private sector and industry, I never stayed on in the same place for more than five years. Being Finance Minister for ten years has been a long haul. Leaving after ten years will mean we shall be giving space to those from a future generation to take over. We can do this today only because it was through Eddie that this country achieved a level of normality, and in a normal country we can operate in a different manner.
“If I fail to be elected, I will still offer my service to the Nationalist Party. You are not made minister by application. It is the Prime Minister who makes you one. I will be ready to offer my services as directed by the Prime Minister.”
Dalli says that now that Malta is in the EU, the main priority for the island is to exploit all the opportunities Europe will be offering, as quickly as possible. “That means we need to introduce new cultures of decisiveness, which influence quicker decision-making without running the risk of letting others decide for us. We also have to push for quality, to show this country works, to show that we are efficient in our work and that we can make this country the capital of the Mediterranean.
“This is my vision of a disciplined, hardworking and proud country like Malta.
The next ten years will see new social upheavals and problems, which is why we need to strengthen our contact with the party grassroots, to keep in touch and remain alert with these social developments. The welfare society we built must be maintained as society changes. We have to handle new problems as they emerge, reaching out for new victims in our changing society, and for people who need different kinds of help.”
Which is why Dalli has also promised internal reforms within the Nationalist Party itself, a move which he said was designed to remove the centralisation of power at the Stamperija: “These are reforms are needed to give more value to the party’s committees from every town and city on the island.
“I believe the PN sectional committees should not only serve as an electoral machine, but as a vehicle for ideas. I wish to incentivise all our members, and give them a cause for them to show us what changes are happening within the country and to together transform these ideas into policies. I believe in decentralisation, taking a bottom-up approach to politics.”
That also means taking into account the party media, which according to Dalli should be strengthened for it to focus on broadcasting the party’s message in a mature but not destructive manner:
“Not even towards the opposing party. I don’t believe that politics means working negatively against the opposing party. That is destructive for the whole country, there’s just nothing to gain from that. I will push for a proactive form of building ideas, and this should be the role of the party media. I think every party’s media should provide a balance. Having two political party TV stations does not provide a balance in itself. It is a great injustice for those who follow just one TV channel, taking in the same type of propaganda from just one side. This happens on both sides. A party station should enable a balanced vision for its viewers.”