Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1516411
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 FEBRUARY 2024 7 INTERVIEW The following are excerpts from the interview. The full interview can be found on maltatoday.com.mt as well as our Facebook and Spotify pages. Scan this QR code to see the full interview. The Nationalist Party is often criticised for having a lack of young people within the party's struc- tures, especially in more important roles. What do you think is pushing them away from the party? I don't think there is something which is holding youths from par- ticipating in politics. We have two youth wings. As a party we give youths the space to explore differ- ent ideas. But one has to look at the wider po- litical participation of youths in pol- itics. The lack of participation is not just a local thing but is happening across Europe. It symptomatic of a more globalised and modern Malta. Do you feel a conserva- tive approach to politics adopted by the party, such as the outright opposition to abortion and canna- bis legalisation to name a few, is pushing youths away from the party? I don't think all youths are liberal. Yes, the demographic might be closer to the Left, but if we look at the polls, a MaltaToday survey for example showed youths were split down the middle on abortion. I don't think it's a question of ideology. I personally don't get too caught up on ideology. There are issues which require a lib- eral solution and others a conserva- tive one, and youths have different opinions on different subjects. Is the Nationalist Party prepared to take the hard decisions to enact change related to climate change, such as taxing car use and removing free parking? It is not a question of taking the hard decisions, we have a duty to take them. The people need to be onboard for the decisions, and you cannot impose. Imposing and not consulting means those decisions will ultimately fail. The social and economic factors should always be taken into consideration. The point of departure should be that we incentivise the change, and not punish people for it. We see this in the amendments we proposed on the climate change authority. We had to ensure that the positions we took on the hard decisions had the approval and belief of the people they would affect. Would you have done an- ything differently on the Climate Action Authority? It is a step in the right direction, but it is not the destination. We have been calling for a similar authori- ty since 2019. Back then I was still an activist, but when at the time parliament unanimously declared a climate emergency, the govern- ment was not onboard with the idea. Now it is, and that is good, but I am bit sceptical because government's announcement that it would be cre- ating the authority came at the time when we had the power cut crisis last summer. This Bill was rushed, and no consul- tation was carried out with stake- holders and NGOs, and that is why we proposed that on the board there should be the active participation of these groups. We also wanted to ensure that people elected on this board are elected because of their credentials as experts on the sub- ject, and not an authority which is there to give jobs to the boys. It is not enough for us to have qual- ified persons on the board, we want to see that it is the basic standard for persons on these kinds of boards. We want this board to actively con- tribute to the compliance and legis- lation pushed by the ministries. PHOTOS: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTA TODAY