Mr. Gonzi's victory; was the contest necessary?

PM in Marsascala during his tour for support

In todays The Times one can read that PM Lawrence Gonzi gained 96,5 per cent of the vote in the PN leadership contest. It gives The Observer a flashback from the sixties when Leonid Brezhnev gained 105 per cent of the vote in former Soviet Union. That is what can be called a good and fair election! To avoid any misunderstanding; of course yesterday's election can not be regarded otherwise than fair. But was it necessary? Even if Mr. Gonzi felt that he needed to have his leadership confirmed, the outcome of the vote is still not a true and fair view on the situation in The Nationalist Party since Mr. Gonzi was the only candidate. Say for instance that Mr. Debono had challenged Mr. Gonzi regarding the leadership (he has challenged him about almost everything else). Of course Mr. Gonzi would not have gained 96,5 per cent of the vote. That is as certain as it is that Mr. Debone would have lost such a debacle. Mr. Debono has previously tried very hard to commit political suicide and if he had challenged Mr. Gonzi regarding the leadership he would surely have succeeded. One can wonder if all this really was necessary. Mr. Gonzi is the undisputed leader of the Nationalist Party no matter what Mr. Debono tries to do. Even if there are a number of opponents to Mr. Gonzi in the party they are not as stupid as to challenge Mr. Gonzo in this political situation. They would, in that case, have gone down together with Mr. Debono.