Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1528159
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 OCTOBER 2024 4 INTERVIEW Alex Perici Calascione: 'PN's improved polling should be attributed to Bernard Grech' NATIONALIST Party deputy lead- er Alex Perici Calascione says voters understand there is a need for radical change in the country's governance. Sitting down for an interview with MaltaToday as the political season be- gins to heat up, the Nationalist deputy leader says the party is keeping its feet to the ground despite political surveys showing a constant improvement in performance. On the other hand, party leader Ber- nard Grech has constantly showed poor performance in MaltaToday's Trust Barometer. Skirting around questions on wheth- er he feels a change in leadership would make the PN a better political force to challenge Labour for gov- ernment, Perici Calascione says the party's advancement in the polls, the European Parliament and local coun- cil elections, should be attributed to Grech. "You could or could not like him, but his effect as a leader is reflected in the bigger support the PN now enjoys," he says. Last September the PN had an- nounced former MP Karl Gouder would be replacing Michael Piccini- no as Secretary General. But Gouder tragically died days later, leaving the PN with a strategic headache on who to appoint. While still reeling from Gouder's sudden death, the PN deputy leader says the party must look forward as the role "is not only important for the party but for the country." "The decision has to be taken in the context of what the country expects from us as a party," he says. With the week's headlines dominat- ed by changes to the Villa Rosa local plan, the PN deputy leader flat out de- nies ever meeting with Anton Camill- eri Tal-Franciz, the developer behind the proposed project. He also insists it is wrong for gov- ernment to try and circumvent public consultation on the proposed changes. Asked about the PN's financial sit- uation, Perici Calascione says it has improved over the years. He also says the party has been given another ex- tension by the Electoral Commission to file its 2021 audited accounts. He says the accounts have been handed over to the party's auditor and once approved will be handed over to the Electoral Commission. Alex Perici Calascione believes that the Nationalist Party's improvement in the European and local council elections last June and the latest positive outcome of a MaltaToday survey should be attributed to Bernard Gerch. Karl Azzopardi sits down with the PN deputy leader to discuss the party's prospects, its finances and its leader.