Metsola’s Houdini act: Dodge, vanish and leave

It’s not been a particularly good week for the Nationalist Party. After Bernard Grech’s shock resignation announcement, the party was held at ransom by its star performer Roberta Metsola, whom many expected to take over.

She finally made up her mind on Saturday with a laborious explanation justifying her decision to stay put in Brussels.

While the expectation had been building over the past few months that a change in the PN leadership was in the offing, no one was expecting this particular timing. The general understanding was that a negotiated transition would take place to ensure Roberta Metsola could take over the party reins. After all, there is widespread consensus in the party that she is best-placed to bring the different factions together, give the PN a modern identity and provide a strategic direction to take the party out of its current predicament.

But it seems Grech had enough of Metsola’s posturing—she was acting like a Messiah; espousing lofty ideals about hope and change, while at the same time being ambiguous about her PN leadership intentions.

Metsola kept giving mixed messages. In a series of interviews, she gave at the start of the year—to Saviour Balzan on Xtra, Andrew Azzopardi on RTK, Tim Diacono on Lovin—Metsola made direct and pointed incursions into the Maltese political scene. She talked about reforms she would like to see taking place in the country, hit out at the prime minister over his confused stand on defence spending, and generally sounded like someone who was on the cusp of taking charge of the Opposition.

It gave PN supporters hope; triggering an enthusiasm that has so far eluded the PN. Her gatherings in Malta for constituents became large events because people flocked to see her, meet her and hear her.

And yet, she continued to dodge the key question: Will you return to Malta to lead the PN?

Her replies were neither here nor there; hinting at a return without giving detail. Triggering hope but at the end of the day, delivering inertia.

Metsola’s larger-than-life persona left the PN in a Catch 22 situation—it wanted to move forward with ideas and proposals but people did not believe it could win unless Metsola returned to Pietà from Brussels.

With the Labour Party taking concrete steps to address internal disquiet in the aftermath of its dismal performance in last year’s European election, polling results this year indicated a gradual shift in tide. The PL managed to stem abstention among its core voters and with another strong budget under its belt, people entered the new year with more money in their pockets.

The PN found itself once again on the back foot; dogged by petty squabbles that saw the Opposition hit out at the Speaker, the botched handling of the Manoel Island saga, a growing abstention rate among core voters and a small but sustained haemorrhage of votes to third parties despite some gains from the PL.

The last MaltaToday survey was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It confirmed Grech’s inability to inspire and put the PN, 39,000 votes below the PL.

And then Grech decided to press the nuclear button and resign with no ifs and buts.

It was ostensibly one of the toughest decisions he took in five years. It may have been premature but at this stage it was also about preserving personal dignity.

He could no longer function as the stop-gap leader while almost everybody else in the party, its supporters and the wider electorate was expecting Metsola to return. The paralysis this created was harming the PN and putting him in an uncomfortable position.

Within this context, his decision to finally call it a day and kick off a leadership race may have been rash—some would argue irresponsible in the absence of a succession plan—but completely understandable.

Meanwhile, with the leader’s post now vacant, Metsola vanished. Her radio silence spoke volumes. She avoided speaking to journalists—Maltese and foreign.

And finally, her Houdini act ended with a bow and goodbye. She did not want to get burnt in the Maltese sun.

Metsola’s reasons for doing so may be personally and politically justified. One can also understand that her position in EU institutions comes with responsibilities that cannot simply be put aside, especially in a period of international turmoil. But she could have saved the party from uncertainty by declaring that she can only come back to Malta in whatever role after the expiry of her term.

Playing with the hearts and minds of PN supporters was unfair. A politician should either lead, follow or get out of the way. A judicious politician can lead but also have the humility to know when to follow.

Unfortunately, Metsola chose to sit on the fence and that is the hardest thing to fathom, now that she chose Brussels over Malta. Product Metsola has been dented and it’s all of her own making.