Bernard Grech demoted to a third rate leader. Who is really behind the re-shuffle in the Nationalist Party?

At present there is turmoil and anger among the deputies in the Nationalist Party. This turmoil is to be found amongst those deputies Bernard Grech considers to be close to Adrian Delia as well as those who had backed Grech’s nomination.

A number of deputies are pointing fingers at Louis Galea. They are blaming him as the hidden force behind this reshuffle. They also maintain that it is he who chose which ministries were to be assigned to the various deputies of the Nationalist Party.

Since Bernard Grech became Party Leader, Louis Galea has been going to the Nationalist Party’s headquarters every day carrying his brief case. He has even been given  an office close to the Leader. It is not known, however, whether he is being remunerated for his services or not.

The deputies maintain that it is Louis Galea who pushed Ray Bezzina to the fore so much so that Ray Bezzina is attending the meetings that Bernard Grech is having separately with each and every Nationalist MP. It is Ray Bezzina who addresses them and then Bernard Grech simply agrees with what Ray Bezzina has imparted.  The rumour circulating at party headquarters is that Bernard Grech is not even being kept informed and is only following orders.  Everything is being left in the hands of Ray Bezzina with the result that Bernard Grech has ended up being a 3^rd class leader. 

This is creating quite an upheaval amidst the Nationalist deputies including Grech’s own men. For example, Carol Aquilina is not at happy with the situation. Aquilina wanted to be Shadow Minister for Justice instead of Jason Azzopardi.  So disgruntled is Carol Aquilina that he has caused a panegyric.  From the information I have, Carol Aquilina found out that Azzopardi was once again appointed Shadow Minister for Justice after reading my post yesterday. As a result, there was a change in strategy and Carol Aquilina was offered to shadow justice. In turn, this move infuriated Jason Azzopardi. Francis Zammit Dimech intervened and told Jason Azzopardi that he could not continue shadowing Justice when he is, at the same time, a lawyer in a number of high profile cases. Instead, Jason Azzopardi was offered to shadow Jobplus, Malta Enterprise and employment which he refused.

As Hermann Schiavone has refused to shadow tourism, this was offered to Karl Gouder. But he too has declined the offer. I can also reveal that Ivan Bartolo retained his current portfolio. This was at least a good decision from those who are making such a reshuffle.

Meanwhile, the media, instead of focusing on Adrian Delia’s important court case yesterday where Joseph Muscat, with others, had been called to testify, chose to concentrate on the messy reshuffle for which Bernard Grech is being held responsible, when, in fact, all he is doing is obeying orders he receives from above.

What can be concluded here from these latest episodes is that the Nationalist Party has no proper strategy in place.