The rise and (heavy) fall of the Gonzi Administration

If Bill Clinton’s infamous 1992 tagline “It’s the economy, stupid” had to be taken literally as the be-all-and-end-all of political accomplishment, then the Nationalist Party should have won last weekend’s general election hands down. Instead, the Nationalists suffered Malta’s biggest post-Independence electoral haemorrhage, and the party is now having to do what the Labour Party experienced in 2008 – pick up the pieces and rebuild its structures. So what went wrong? The PN parliamentary group last Friday decided to commission a report to analyse the defeat, but there are some stark reasons which had been staring the Administration in the face for years. Dr Gonzi constantly presented a coherent narrative, highlighting Malta’s economic success and warning on the risks of shifting direction. His commitment to job creation was lauded by all and sundry and the PN stressed that one should never change a winning team. But in urging the electorate to never lose sight of the bigger picture, the PN now stands in front of tens of thousands accusing it of failing to look at the smaller picture. Here are some of the clear highs and lows of an Administration led by a 59-year-old lawyer who...