![]() The PN leader’s judgement is also being questioned from a strategic perspective as his gamble has harmed the opposition’s chances in the election earmarked for March 2018, and demoralised many within the party’s structures.įollowing the well-attended demonstration organised last month, the PN was on an upward trajectory and Busuttil’s anti-corruption battle cry was in synch with the people’s anger over the government’s poor record in governance and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s persistence in defending his right-hand men Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi despite their secret companies in Panama.īut many in the PN now fear that Busuttil’s gamble has backfired and cancelled any inroads the PN may have made with the electorate.īusuttil has obstinately stuck to his anti-corruption discourse despite it now being publicly known that his party and many of his MPs have strong ties to big businesses, which curry favour with both parties, especially with the party in power. Party insiders warned that if donations dry up, the party – which traditionally has very strong ties with the business community – will find it very hard to match Labour’s well-oiled and better financed campaign. ![]() With the general election just months away, the party is ever more dependent on donations from big businesses to fund its electoral campaign. What guarantee do potential donors have that they will not be exposed?” one MP said. “How can you expect businessmen to continue donating big sums of money when the party leader has gone out on a limb and exposed one of its biggest donors? The trust is gone. Although the former Labour leader won the 1996 election on a similar anti-corruption platform, the MPs told MaltaToday that the party is making too many enemies in the business community. The PN leader gives an impression that he looks on the business class with a jaundiced eye and his anti-business rhetoric has echoes of Alfred Sant in it. These operations cost the party millions every year and cannot be sustained without the financial backing of big businesses. The PN employs some 60 people, runs a huge media organisation and organises costly political events and campaigns. Secondly, and more significantly, Busuttil is delusional if he believes that the PN can survive on small donations from supporters alone. Firstly, Busuttil himself admitted meeting Debono on a number of occasions and it has been claimed that it was the PN leader himself who asked for the money. Yet, Busuttil’s claims of independence from big donors are unconvincing on two counts. These revelations have shed a light on the intricate links between politics and big business and exposed the open secret that political parties depend on financial support from leading entrepreneurs.įor too long it has been suspected that this unsavoury symbiosis was behind a number of very controversial policies and decisions and Busuttil has consistently tried to distance himself from this unholy alliance between the big parties and big business. However it confirmed receiving €3,500 in donations from the developers during 2016, while its media arm Media.link Communications had “commercial relations” worth €70,800 with two companies linked to Silvio Debono. ![]() In a somewhat late reaction, the PN denied that the company owned by former PN militant Silvio Debono paid for the substantial salaries of the PN’s secretary-general and the CEO of the party’s media company. One of the three MPs who spoke to MaltaToday said Busuttil jumped the gun in revealing the private correspondence with the CEO of a company which had a very close relationship with the party for many years.īusuttil not only did the unthinkable in breaking the code of silence on party financing but also opened a Pandora’s box after the upset developers revealed the extent of their relationship with the party. Party faithful are questioning the wisdom of Busuttil’s move and a number of opposition MPs told this newspaper that exposing db Group’s request on live TV can seriously jeopardise the party’s chances of having a fighting chance in the forthcoming election, due in about a year. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil’s decision to expose the “threat” he received by SMS from the CEO of db Group, Arthur Gauci, in which he was asked to pay back donations given to the party, not only demystified party financing but also saw the PN leader break a code of silence.
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