Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1085429
NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 FEBRUARY 2019 THE president of the PN's administra- tive council, Kristy Debono, yesterday declared that the PN had not thrown out its values and social conscience "like the Labour Party". Debono said that the Maltese and Gozi- tan people could always rely on the PN to defend citizens' rights and interests. Addressing the party's general council, Debono said the party was open to eve- ryone and was working to meet people in villages and at their places of work every day. The council, she said, was an opportu- nity to send a political message and show the people the results of the party's work. "People often ask me what the Nation- alist Party stands for today," Debono said, adding that her reply was always that the "PN was, is and remains, the party for which the interests of the nation and the country come first." She said there were many issues on which there were diverse opinions, or differences in style, within the party, but ultimately, she said, the party was united in its dedication to the country. "These are the intersection points that bring us all together." "It's not the Nationalist Party that is going through an identity crisis, it isn't the PN that is ashamed of its past and it isn't the PN that has thrown out its val- ues and abandoned its social conscience," Debono continued, adding that the PN's values remained central to its core poli- tics. They were the same values and way of thinking, she said, that had brought great thinkers together within the party. They were the values, she said, that had driven former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami in "his fight for democra- cy" and Malta's journey to joining the EU. They were the same values that formed the basis of former Prime Minister Law- rence Gonzi's policies, which saw Malta adopt the Euro and weather the 2008 global financial crisis. They were the values that drove former leader Simon Bussutil in his fight against corruption and the values that were today the centre of Adrian Delia's leadership. "Values in favour of social justice, in fa- vour of wealth for all, against exclusion and poverty, in favour of the weak and the vulnerable," Debono said. She said the PN's vision would seek to help the various sectors that found them- selves in a crisis because of the govern- ment's lack of planning. A drone sighting forced the Malta International Airport to temporarily close one of its runways yesterday in the afternoon. Police said a drone was spotted by a pilot at roughly 12.25pm. The airport au- thorities informed the air- port tower, that in turn in- formed the police. An AFM helicopter carried out an extensive search of the area, but no drones were sighted. The runway was reopened shortly after the AFM heli- copter finalised an extensive search. Drone sighting forces MIA runway closure 'We will keep defending Maltese and Gozitans' PN General Council Kristy Debono said the PN was open to everyone