Karl Stagno-Navarra Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will this morning deliver the concluding keynote speech at his party’s general council in Pietà.
It will be his first general council where he addresses party delegates with the apparent full control over the party structures, given the recent departure of former leadership contenders John Dalli and Louis Galea to EU posts.
Gonzi, who has managed to secure parliamentary stability following months of unrest on his backbench, has embarked on an ambitious appeasement exercise with his disgruntled MPs, appointing many of them as parliamentary assistants.
After buying the peace and extinguishing the risk of a backbench revolt, former social policy minister John Dalli accepted an offer by Gonzi to take up the role of European Commissioner in Brussels, ending his self-declared “father-confessor” role with disgruntled MPs.
Louis Galea, who unexpectedly lost his seat in the 2008 general election to newcomer Franco Debono, has since last month joined the Luxembourg-based European Court of Auditors after serving two years as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
PN activists who are close to the former leadership contenders have since ‘disappeared’ from all the party structures, paving the way for a natural strengthening of the party base by Gonzi’s men.
Evidence of this control emerges from last Friday’s election of the PN’s Executive Council members, all of whom are known to be linked to the ‘GonziPN’ clan.
The elected are Jean-Pierre Debono (assistant secretary-general) Paul Borg Olivier (secretary-general) Marthese Portelli (executive committee president), Victor Scerri, Henri Darmanin (Elcom), Pierre Portelli (administrative council president), Karol Aquilina, Malcolm Mifsud, Caroline Galea, John Bonello, Trevor Degiorgio, Janice Chetcuti and Michelle Mallia.
Contacted yesterday, re-confirmed party official Pierre Portelli hailed the vote as a “reawakening” of the party. He explained: “If one had to look closely, it is a very positive result given the fact that the new Executive Council is made up of many new and young faces.”
He stressed that this was “positive news” for the PN as it still manages to attract new blood within it, notwithstanding being in government for more than 20 years. Portelli disagreed with the argument that Lawrence Gonzi has secured further control over the party since the departures of John Dalli and Louis Galea from the party structures.
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
Search:
MALTATODAY
BUSINESSTODAY
Download MaltaToday Sunday issue front page in pdf file format
