Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1270964
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 JULY 2020 INTERVIEW Edwin Vassallo said something else. The surveys are not giv- ing Adrian Delia and the PN any chance but Vassallo argued that there were instances in the past when the PN lost local elections and European elections and yet went on to win the general election. This happened under Eddie Fenech Adami and Law- rence Gonzi. Vassallo is arguing that Delia should be given the chance to lead the PN until the next general election. What do you make of this argument? I do not agree with Edwin Vas- sallo on this point… I don't go for the general election battle already deflated, and suffering from shortness of breath. I want to face a general election with enthusiastic people, who are ready to work and who are ready to trust my party. I want to face the electorate with a united front so that people can see in my par- ty the opportunity to challenge the government… I do not want to face an election by discarding people or dividing them but by uniting them. The PN is like a mosaic. Everyone knows that if you lose a piece of that mosaic, the picture is ruined. I believe that if we want to have a fighting chance in the general election we have to be united. Lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona spoke of first class and 'third- tier' Nationalists. You spoke of a mosaic but don't you think statements like his strengthen the perception that this internal battle is rooted in class? Do you represent the elite in the party who felt betrayed by members who elected Adrian Delia? A declaration like that of An- drew Borg Cardona is uncall- ed for and does no good to the party. Whoever looks at me as an elitist person, does not know that I lived in Żejtun and Birżeb- buġa. There is no dishonour in hailing from any place. It is an honour for me to have lived in Żejtun and Birżebbuġa, where every day I met ordinary people, like I do today in every locality in Malta and Gozo that I visit. I contested the MEP election and visited every locality as part of the campaign and Malta is made up of every type of person and family. The PN must represent every type of person and family, otherwise it will have no chance of moving forward. No, the PN does not belong to elitists, the PN belongs to everybody. It is up to us, the councillors, members and MPs, to inspire them and fire up their enthusiasm to get back into the fold. I was present outside PN HQ when the parliamentary group met and voted against Delia. There were people outside the building, who are passionate about the PN but they voted for Delia and are feeling that their choice is being ignored. What do you tell these people? There are a lot of people who are hurt and we are speaking to them. We have spent the past week meeting people… I am the first one to sit down with peo- ple and listen to them and un- derstand what they are passing through. This new process has hurt a lot of people because you form part of a group and sudden- ly you feel that someone wants to destroy you… we need to pass through a healing process. There are hurt people on all sides – peo- ple who side with Adrian Delia are hurt but there are others who say they will not vote until he remains leader. Everyone is hurt but the only thing that binds us is the love for the PN and Malta. This healing process should have started in 2017. The gen- eral election can be one-and-a- half years away at the latest but it could be earlier and political history shows us a healing pro- cess like this is not one that can end in a few months. It requires time to meet people, speak to them, understand them, admit your mistakes. It could be too late. This has always been my aim in politics. I meet a lot of people who feel hurt by the actions of the PN, the Labour Party… I meet them and try and understand what they passed through… We politicians must be there to understand why a person is hurting without being judgemental… This process will obviously take its time. How do you explain your transi- tion from a person who did not want to take up her seat in the Maltese parliament after the 2017 election to retain a seat in Brussels, to someone who is at the centre of political upheaval wanting to become Opposition leader? Both circumstances show that I am a person, who many believe is quiet - I am a quiet person in that I listen a lot and am not loud - but when faced with a challenge, I get down to work. When I am given a challenge, I evaluate it and with everyone's input try to find a solution. Three years ago, I had a seat in Brussels and an electorate who wanted me to stay there and employees who depended on me, and an electorate in both general election districts that was asking me to stay in Malta. It wasn't an easy decision. It was not simply a decision about my future because the livelihood of my employees depended on me. When I saw that my voters were hurt by my initial decision to retain the Brus- sels seat, I held a meeting for all my employees at my house and it was only when they decided to leave the final say in my hands that I decided to stay in Malta. From day one, I stayed here, con- tinued my political work that led my colleagues to trust me with this responsibility. If there is a vacancy for party leader, will you contest? For the time being my role is to offer guidance. Whenever that vacancy arises, and it will proba- bly arise, I will evaluate what my role will be. However, my current role is to unite people in the par- ty and attract people towards the party. You seem convinced there will be a vacancy before the next general election. I am convinced not because of some personal conviction be- cause even the party procedures demand that in such situations some form of solution is found. I will never give up from finding solutions. What will the solution be? We have to take it a step at a time. If Adrian Delia keeps insisting that he will not resign, is there a feasible solution? There are many solutions on the table. But I am ready to im- plement the solution that unites the party… the solution today, given that we do not have an open leadership contest is to use and respect all the party proce- dures, respect and understand the hurt of the party councillors and members, and guide people to unite the party. There are some who believe that these two sides are irreconcila- ble and the solution is to split and form a new party. They are not irreconcilable. Who speaks this way is not re- alising that despite the friction that exists and the manner in which we are speaking to each other, we all cherish the PN and Malta. And even when I speak to my colleagues who still support Adrian Delia, we agree on this. Someone looking from the out- side is seeing a surreal picture of two factions not wanting to appear as breaking up the PN and yet strangely cohabiting un- der the same roof. The vote of no confidence in Adrian Delia only happened a few days ago… a process of heal- ing takes its time. Try and un- derstand what we are doing. Be patient with us because we are walking down a road that those before us never walked… Give us the chance to seek reconciliation. But you have to tell this to the party members. I assure you that I am sitting down with all those who are ap- proaching me and my colleagues. There are definitely those who are accusing you of being trai- tors. Of course. Look at the social media and you can see all the abuse we have received. But I do not blame people who accuse us of being traitors. With every per- son, we sit down with and ask them if they believe our interest is to destroy the party, they reply, 'obviously not, wasn't I with you in the last election'. These are the members and councillors who were walking down the same road with us. When you start explaining the situation the par- ty is in, and they themselves ac- knowledge the need for the party to strengthen, we find common ground. We can only start mov- ing forward if we find common ground. It takes time. You referred to poor survey results but all that erupted re- cently was caused by a story in The Sunday Times of Malta that reported on alleged messages that were exchanged between Yorgen Fenech and Adrian De- lia. What weight do these shad- ows have on Adrian Delia? The shadows are there and it is up to Adrian Delia to deal with them. What is sure is that there were never any shadows on pre- vious PN leaders. These shadows are damaging because they may keep people interested in sup- porting the PN, away from the party. As a party, we have certain values and myself and every MP is obliged to live them. Unfor- tunately, those allegations have not been quashed and they keep hindering [the party]. Having said that, in the past three years I have seen Adrian Delia trying to give his all. It was not enough, that is what surveys are telling us. Is it his fault? Not entirely. But that which unites us is the need to strengthen the party. Who will be leading the PN in the next general election? That is something that the councillors and members will decide on. councillor-in-chief