Deputies: take two

Simon Busuttil’s arrival as PN deputy leader was trumpeted as a game-changer. Now, the Labour Party has joined the music with Louis Grech. Where does this dance of the deputies lead? Saturday’s evening’s debate between PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil and his PL counterpart Louis Grech was always going to struggle to match the rising crescendo of its politically charged build-up. Dissett viewers hoping to see sparks fly had to settle for two men more accustomed to Strasbourg parliamentary halls, taking it in turns to argue their points, more or less civilly, on national television. There were no graphs or spats with the debate moderator this time, as had happened when Mr Grech’s predecessor, Anġlu Farrugia, squared up to Dr Busuttil on Xarabank two weeks ago. Whoever viewers perceived to have won the debate, it was not the comprehensive victory of 14 days earlier, when Dr Busuttil was widely seen as having trounced his counterpart. Both major parties now enter the electoral campaign with deputy leaders poised to play a more prominent role than in previous elections. “Who remembers last election’s deputy leaders?” asked historian and former Labour activist Dominic Fenech. “I doubt...