Recent political results clearly indicate that the Nationalist party is in dire need of change and reform. Ever since the departure of Eddie Fenech Adami, the Nationalist party has went through a thorough decline, which led to two of its most embarrassing defeats in its existence.
A number of factors including the inability to resonate with a modern audience, the lack of proposed reforms to cater for new societal needs, together with an abhorring financial position, the Nationalist party stands in tatters as its counterparty, the Labour movement made astounding inroads which seem to establish it as the only party in government for the years to come.
Following two heavy defeats under the respective leadership tenures of both Lawrence Gonzi and Simon Busuttil, the latest leader of the Opposition, Adrian Delia entered the fray. Many argue that things do not seem to be getting any better under his leadership considering that the party now seems split between different factions, with a number of parliamentary members not too keen to serve under his leadership him. Considering the Labour party’s recent predicament, many argue that the Nationalist party has failed to narrow the gap, which goes on to show that a viable option instead of the current government does not exist.
One of the recent moves made by Adrian Delia, is to appoint Louis Galea to come up with a reform strategy following the collation of feedback from several branches of the Nationalist party’s structure. The announcement of this move was followed by mixed views. Some people believed that Louis Galea was a fit candidate to unite the different factions of the party, whilst others stated that he is part of the old guard and that others had to be considered for such reform proposals.
Some of his proposed reforms started to hit the headlines a few days ago. One of these was a proposed name change to the Nationalist party. Some have indeed criticised this proposal as this would simply be a cosmetic and superficial change to a party which is in need of desperate change. To this criticism, Louis Galea responded that his proposals go far beyond just a change in name. Other proposals submitted included a framework to create a more effective Parliamentary Group, changes to the party’s political and institutional framework, an update to its Mission Statement and a transition to a team-based effective democratic structure.
The changes suggested have been proposed following extensive discussions with the party’s Members of Parliament, local councils and other fora.
What is your view on Louis Galea’s input? Is it time for the Nationalist party to rebrand? Let us know in the comments section below.
