Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1459407
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 MARCH 2022 8 INTERVIEW our future' 'Pensioners, stipends, electricity bills'… it's all there. And let's face it: there's no real difference between the two parties on other key issues, either. Hunting, for instance. Both Labour and PN agree to retain spring hunting… That means that [the hunters] know they have peace of mind, with us in govern- ment… Why do you only care about the hunters, though? What about the high percent- age of PN voters – much higher than La- bour, as it happens – who actually disa- gree with spring hunting? Why are you ignoring them? Because we are democratic. Because there was a referendum [in 2015]; and the result of that referendum is still valid to- day. As a democratic party, we can't sim- ply ignore that; we can't change a decision that was taken by the people, in a demo- cratic vote… Come on, you're using that referendum as an excuse. This is a conservation is- sue: 'spring hunting' means 'shooting birds during the breeding season'. And we are talking about a threatened spe- cies [turtle dove] here. Because even if the spring season is only for quail: we all know there's no real enforcement… No, we're not 'using the referendum as an excuse'. Remember that Malta joined the EU by means of a referendum, too. Would you have us overturn that democratic vote as well? As a democratic party, we cannot just overrule the referendum result… You're ignoring the question of sustain- ability, though. Should an unsustainable practice be maintained, simply because a majority voted for it in an election? That's how democracy works. The peo- ple decide in a referendum, and political parties have no choice but to respect their decision. Having said this: if someone wants to overturn the result of the 2015 spring hunting referendum… there are ways and means of doing that, too. From our end: the Nationalist Party's position is to continue respecting the referendum re- sult, for as long as it remains valid. Let's turn to the PN's other proposals. Don't you think it is a little irresponsi- ble, to be promising so many expensive goodies – tax-cuts for everyone; infra- structural project worth billions, etc. - at a time when war in Ukraine (not to mention the post-Covid recession, and imminent tax-harmonisation) is going to massively impact the local economy? Where's all this money going to come from, anyway? I can assure you that ALL our proposals have been thoroughly costed… … on what basis, though? We don't know what tomorrow's economic situa- tion will even look like… We are basing ourselves on what, and how, we should be spending our money on. Because whoever wins this election: the incoming government will still have to raise, and spend, revenue. And in our case, it is clear where the money will be coming from. We will continue growing the national economy, by creating 10 new economic sectors… There's no guarantee you'll succeed, though. How do you plan to attract those new sectors, anyway, if you can no longer offer generous tax incentives? Of course, there's a guarantee! What guarantee did we have, when – under a PN government – we successfully introduced so many new sectors? Financial services? I-gaming? And so many more? Unlike other parties, we have credibility when it comes to creating new economic sectors. How many new sectors did the Labour government create, since 2013? None at all. We, on the other hand, are proposing 10 new sectors that will continue helping us to build up a strong economy. Meanwhile, those tax-cuts you men- tioned will help us generate more revenue. Because when you 'arrange' the tax brack- ets a little… people will have more money to spend… Sorry, but you're talking as though we are living in 'normal times'. But we're not, are we? The rest of the world is bracing itself for massive inflation; en- ergy crises; food shortages... Shouldn't you be doing the same? Bear in mind that the electoral pro- gramme we're talking about, was pub- lished three weeks ago. You can't expect it to cater for events that happened more than a week later… OK, but now those events have hap- pened: will you be scaling back your promises accordingly? Wouldn't it be more responsible, to be telling us to 'tighten our belts'? We are, and have always been, a very re- sponsible party. Just look at our record: our past is a guarantee of our future… What? Surely, it's the other way round: the past is NOT a 'guarantee of the fu- ture'. (Otherwise, the PN would still be in power today, wouldn't it?) No, what I meant is that: every time there were financial or economic crises in the past, under Nationalist governments, we always rose to the occasion. That is why, when [former German Chancellor] An- gela Merkel came to Malta, she told Law- rence Gonzi to his face that: 'in this little island of ours, you have managed to per- form miracles'. So now that the country is once again facing the possibility of another crisis: whom do you trust more, to weather it? The fact that we have so much credibility, in this sector, means that the people will look to the Nationalist Party – and not to Labour – to once again guide the country through difficult times. Can you really back that up, though, when the PN is still struggling to just keep itself together? On the first day of this campaign, there were three res- ignations – Kristy Debono, Clyde Puli, Claudio Grech. Won't this have an ef- fect on the result? And besides: why is it still so difficult to bridge that divide, anyway? But it's not difficult at all. We have man- aged to bridge that divide. Just come to any of our activities, and you'll see all Adrian Delia's people there… offering their own support to the party…. … in their own campaign T-shirts, though. (And Delia even got 'scolded' for it, too). That was because our party regulations prohibit individual candidates from run- ning their own campaign. But come on, that episode was completely overblown. Once again, come to our activities: you'll see what the atmosphere is like today. You'll see how Adrian Delia and Bernard Grech are… I won't say 'hugging each oth- er'; but you know what I mean. This im- pression you have, that the party is 'divid- ed'… it's not true at all. Delia himself is going on house-visits, from door-to-door, to convince voters – especially his own supporters – to vote PN. Now: I don't deny that the party has gone through a lot of turmoil. If what happened two years ago, never happened; I think the gap, today, would be smaller. But having said that: we cannot change the past, either. We're here, now. And we're seeing the gap getting reduced… with two weeks still to go for the election… Last question: do you think, realistically, there's still chance to reduce it all the way? I believe that, with all the work being done by Bernard Grech, and Adrian De- lia, and the whole PN team; and with all the proposals in our electoral manifesto; and with Labour in the corruption crisis it is currently in; and with polls showing so many people still 'undecided'… I think that there is time enough to convince those former Nationalist voters to come back to us, yes. PHOTO: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTATODAY