Alex Borg’s First Order Of Business: Fix The PN’s Amateur Image
Alex Borg might be the breath of fresh air the PN desperately needs but he has inherited a party that urgently needs fixing.
Last night was nothing short of a fiasco. With the nation’s eyes on it, the PN came across as operationally amateur and logistically incompetent.
The result was originally meant to be announced by 10pm. Then it was pushed to 11pm. By 1am, a complete information blackout had set in and it was anyone’s guess what was going on.
Borg’s camp was clearly convinced their man had won but there was no sort of confirmation from the party. Borg himself hadn’t shown up at Dar Ċentrali yet and murmurs began spreading through the restless crowd.
In the absence of official information, rumours filled the void.
Whispers flew: Adrian Delia had demanded a recount. Adrian Delia had demanded a second recount out of concern some people who voted didn’t have the right to do so. Adrian Delia was even considering suing the Electoral Commission.
However, PN officials insisted that no recount had taken place.
At one point, in the early hours of the morning, the head of the PN’s electoral commission announced that counting had concluded. However, rather than declaring the result, he said the numbers had been passed on to the two candidates for approval.
The razor-thin margin of victory should have been reason enough for clear and constant communication.
Instead, the PN left its own supporters stranded outside headquarters with no coffee, little refreshment and near-zero official information.
The contrast with Labour’s slick 2020 leadership race was stark. Former PL Deputy Leader Daniel Micallef even posted a screenshot of Labour’s live tracking system at the time – a stream of steady updates that seemed worlds apart from the PN’s sombre live feed of vote counters accompanied by background music for hours on end.
The whole debacle gave the impression of a party caught unprepared and paralysed by the shock of such a close result.
Still, Borg’s election could well provide the PN with the momentum it needs. If he plays his cards right, he has the potential to capture national attention and finally drag the party out of the past.
Born after the turbulent 1980s and only eight years old when Malta joined the EU, Borg represents a generational shift. Hopefully, the PN will stop waxing lyrical about its past achievements and start focusing firmly on the future.
However, that also means prioritising internal reform: making the party more efficient, more transparent and less cumbersome. With a general election on the doorstep, Borg has no time to waste.
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