Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1459407
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 MARCH 2022 8 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt 'Our past is a guarantee of It's been a bumpy five years for the PN. While recent polls suggest that it has managed to narrow the gap – from 40,000 to around 25,000 – it is clearly no longer the 'well-oiled, election-win- ning machine' that we all once knew. Is the PN resigned to its new status, as a rather small(ish) political force? Let's look at where we started from. As you said, the PN registered a number of electoral victories in the past. And with the entry of Malta into the European Un- ion, I think the Nationalist Party brought democratic stability to the country. But two elections ago, the people felt it need- ed a change of government; with a large majority, that was consolidated at the last election. Now let's look at what happened be- tween the last election, and today. There have been a lot of changes, since 2017. There was a change of Prime Minister, for instance – which I think is going to have an effect on the coming election. The dep- uty leaders of the Labour Party have also changed, in the meantime. I think this will have an effect, too. There was also the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Not to mention a num- ber of corruption scandals, which – unlike the situation before 2017: where the cor- ruption was still only 'alleged' – have since been proven beyond any shadow of doubt. On the other hand, the Nationalist Par- ty also went through a number of chang- es. From Simon Busuttil, the leadership passed to Adrian Delia, then to Bernard Grech. So while the country was going through all this upheaval – which, in La- bour's case, was forced upon it by its own corruption – the Nationalist party was still looking for its own leader. And all along, the people were absorbing everything that was happening. So I think that what happened at the last election, will not happen again this time. Why? Because today, the people have started to listen to us more… unlike the situation five years ago, when our message wasn't getting across as much. We were saying things, yes; and we were also com- ing up with proof of what we were saying; but obviously, it wasn't enough for people to conclude that we were actually right. But over the past year, it's been a totally different story. People are now realizing that Adrian Delia was right about the Vi- tals/Steward Healthcare scandal. On the subject of utility bills: Joseph Muscat him- self – and also the Auditor General, and even the government - has now given us confirmation that that were, in fact, anom- alies, and theft. And do you remember how much Simon Busuttil had talked about Zonqor [where public land was ceded to AUM]? The Na- tionalist Party has now been proven right about that, too. And the same goes the Marsaskala marina, and so many other is- sues… There's an irony in what you're saying, though. What happened at Zonqor, was a carbon copy of the 'Majjistral Golf Course' issue under Lawrence Gonzi… But I'm only talking about the last five years… Fair enough. Go on. What I'm driving at, is that people are now listening to us more. And this why, at the very beginning of the campaign, we came out with an electoral programme which has been long in the making. Work on our manifesto started under Adrian Delia, and it continued under Bernard Grech - with contributions from numer- ous people, both publicly and in private – so that the finished product contains numerous proposals addressing all the relevant economic sectors. And there are others, which have yet to be announced. This way, we are clearing showing the people that, even though the PN did pass through a period of turmoil… today, we are prepared. Not just because of our elec- toral manifesto, which covers the next 10 years; but also, with a number of candi- dates, representing a mixture of old and new faces. So I think that today, people have more faith in the Nationalist Party… Again, however: there are ironies in all this. Simon Busuttil had commissioned a report into the 2017 defeat. It concluded that the PN had attached too much im- portance to 'certain bloggers' [a clear reference to Daphne Caruana Galizia, at the time]. Isn't the PN making the same mistake today? Aren't you once again basing too much of your campaign on 'certain bloggers', and 'certain civil so- ciety groups' like Repubblika? No. Definitely not. First of all, I have a lot of respect for Repubblika, as an organi- zation. But they do their own work; we do ours. And in case you didn't notice: not a single one of our billboards even mentions the word 'corruption'. Did you see any bill- boards about corruption, in the last three weeks? No. Why? Because in every house we go into, during our house-visits, every- one is now convinced that the Labour gov- ernment was the most corrupt we've ever seen: both under Joseph Muscat, and now also under Robert Abela; who is not just the 'continuation' of Joseph Muscat, but he is also personally involved himself. The Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry re- port, for instance, identified a number of laws that were needed to bolster good gov- ernance in this country: including a law to reveal the sources of one's wealth. Why did Robert Abela not want to implement this law? Why are we now seeing Robert Abela's name associated with criminals? This is why we don't bother talking about corruption anymore. Because everybody knows, now. Everyone is convinced that this government is corrupt… Do people really care, though? They didn't in 2017; nor even in 2013 (nor, for that matter, in the entire 25 years of PN rule). Meanwhile, the PN itself is often accused of ignoring 'bread-and-butter' issues… Not anymore, however. If you look at our electoral manifesto, you will find that it is based on what the people of Malta and Gozo really need: from when they are ba- bies, until when they are pensioners. What do pensioners want, for instance? That we raise their pensions to the same level as the national minimum wage. What do students want? That we increase their stipends. And everyone wants their [excess] water and electricity bills to be refunded… we're pro- posing all of this, in our manifesto. So you can't say we're ignoring bread- and-butter issues. We have policies for [people suffering from] coeliac disease: we will give them 180 euros a month, to buy gluten-free products. We have proposals for cancer patients; fibromyalgia; and oth- er issues which affect people directly, but which no other political party has ever re- ally addressed before… But just last week, I interviewed [PL deputy leader] Daniel Jose Micallef, and he told me exactly the same thing. (In almost exactly the same words, too.) PN Deputy Leader DAVID AGIUS admits that the Nationalist Party has gone through a lot of turmoil, since 2017. But he is also convinced that the party still has the credibility, and public trust, to govern the country once more