Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1253597
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2020 INTERVIEW say that Adrian Delia's leader- ship strategy has so far failed? You could argue that way; but I have another explana- tion for why we are struggling so much to recover, as a par- ty. I would say it is because we have a serious communication problem. We are in a very dis- advantaged position, when it comes to communicating. Our media is not the most followed in the country, right now; we are in competition with TVM, which is state-owned, and has an enormous bias in favour of government. But for some time now, even the independent media is not taking us seriously anymore, or giving us enough space. And I don't really blame them, be- cause we are the ones who have to regain their confidence. I'm not saying the independent me- dia are wrong; or that they have a hidden agenda. On the con- trary, they are right not to have any close ties with anyone. To give you an example, how- ever: just recently, we issued an excellent report, authored by Claudio Grech, about the Post-COVID Economic Recov- ery Plan… but it was hardly fea- tured or discussed at all in the press. Which is a pity. We are coming up with proposals; we are holding press conferences almost every day… not just to criticise government – which is also part of our duty, as an Opposition party - but to put across our own vision, and our own proposals… And yet, the PN is often crit- icised for 'criticising too much'. MP Ivan Bartolo, for instance, commented that "the [PN] brand has fallen into negative territory". Isn't there some truth to this? I would say the PN's message is not 'negative', but 'realistic'. If, in order not to be called neg- ative, we are expected not to talk about the rampant corrup- tion that is going on… I think that would be a mistake. Take the Vitals scandal, for exam- ple… is the PN being 'negative', by highlighting the outright theft of three Maltese hospitals? What about MP David Thake's recent criticism of the prime minister over sharing a bowl of chips at a Gozo restaurant? Isn't that taking the Opposi- tion's duty to criticise slightly too far? Just yesterday, in fact, I asked a supplementary PQ about it… which was slightly 'tongue-in- cheek', more or less. But then again, what's so wrong with pointing out the prime minis- ter, and Gozo minister, were setting a bad example, by disre- garding the health regulations at a restaurant? In the UK, for example, a minister had to re- sign this week because [govern- ment advisor] Dominic Cum- mings went for a spin in his car. I can assure you that, if Robert Abela was the prime minister of Britain, and shared a bowl of chips after the Superintendent of Public Health had issued a clear regulation about not shar- ing food in restaurants… the British press would have butch- ered him. You know how brutal they can be… That's a fair point. At the same time, however, the reactions I saw – mostly coming from Na- tionalists – were not exactly positive. And the survey re- sults reinforce this perception. So why does the PN persist with such tactics, even when they are clearly backfiring? This is what I was coming to earlier. There is a perception out there that the PN only ever criticises, for its own sake… but this is simply untrue. For exam- ple, around a month ago, I came out with proposals for vouchers to be given out in restaurants, to help kickstart the catering industry. And I was ridiculed by Labour-leaning commentators. This was a positive proposal… and while we didn't implement it ourselves, it was separately introduced in Austria. I'm not trying to say that they got the idea from me; what I mean is that, while we are often criti- cised for being 'negative', the truth is that we come out with positive proposals all the time. Unfortunately, however, they are given little space in the me- dia. And this is where we are failing, as a party. In fact, at the parliamentary group meeting to be held on Friday – i.e., before this interview will be printed – one of the items on the agenda is precisely this: why are people not responding to our propos- als? This brings us to the question of the PN's electability. You reacted strongly to Ivan Barto- lo's statement that "the PN will not win the next election and it must come to terms with this fact sooner rather than later." Do you really believe the PN still has a chance of winning, under its current leadership? I said this to Ivan Bartolo di- rectly, so I don't mind repeating it here. I can never accept the suggestion that the PN should simply throw in the towel, or contest an election in which it has no chance of winning. Defi- nitely not. And yes, I do genuinely be- lieve that the PN can still win. This is, in fact, what I'm always pushing for: that we, as a par- ty, have to try and find ways to win the next election with the current leadership. We have a leader who has very good quali- ties; Adrian Delia is a very good listener; he is articulate; a good communicator… so I do believe we have a chance of winning the next election. Some people might even think I'm mad, but I do strongly believe that. But there are some things we need to change. We cannot remain static; and keep look- ing at the situation, and saying how 'sorry' we all are. We just need to have the courage to change the things that need to be changed. And by that, I don't mean changing the people. For al- though I am heartbroken by these numbers… I have not given up on the hope that we might still be able to turn that corner. I do genuinely believe that the PN can still win. This is, in fact, what I'm always pushing for: that we, as a party, have to try and find ways to win the next election with the current leadership