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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 JULY 2025 ANALYSIS Alex Borg's first act: Borrowing tactics from the Joseph Muscat playbook I interviewed Alex Borg shortly after announcing his intention to contest the Nationalist Party leadership. This is what I learnt about him. MY colleague Karl Azzopardi describes Adrian Delia's can- didature as a moment of déjà vu after interviewing him. In some ways, I feel the same about Alex Borg's own bid, al- beit with a twist. It would be a very quick as- cent to the party's top post if Borg becomes leader of the Nationalist Party. He was elected into parliament for the first time just three years ago with an impressive 6,108 votes in the Gozo district, benefiting from campaign support by the PN's for- mer heavyweight Giovanna Debono. PN politics is a family af- fair—Borg's father served as a long-time personal assistant to Debono. But the young MP is also not afraid of speaking his mind. A year before his election, he made the controversial move to disassociate himself from Repubblika, whose anti-cor- ruption and rule of law activ- ism has often dove-tailed with that of the PN. Borg severed ties publicly by posting on Facebook that the NGO is "ir- relevant to my work in favour of our Gozo and Malta". However, Borg stepped in- to the studio for our Sunday interview with a more mod- erate tone on things. He said he respects NGOs but insists, rightly so, that the PN is not an NGO and has to adopt an agenda that can win it votes. After all, NGOs don't need votes to remain relevant. On the PN, his vision is clear. Not just his vision; he knows exactly what measures need to be taken to get the party's house in order. The moment I asked about the specific measures needed by the par- ty to get its house in order, he bounced from one meas- ure to another with an acute awareness of the party's pres- sure points. He wants an audit committee that will publish the party's financial accounts within 100 days. He wants to restructure the party's media wing and set up a task force on social media. He wants two deputy leaders for party and parliamentary affairs as well as a party CEO. It's a clear vision that acknowledges the party's problems and, more importantly, offers concrete solutions. On national issues, he's less decisive—but I don't think that matters yet. Someone looking at this election as a party outsider will probably not be convinced by Borg's answers on overpopulation or the environment, but this election is not for party out- siders anyway. This is a leadership election limited to the party's tessera- ti, and they're going to be far more interested in party mat- ters over national affairs. As should be the case. Following Borg's leadership bid so far, I recognised a cou- ple of tactics from the Joseph Muscat playbook. When he announced that he will con- test the election, he promised to lead with a "winning men- tality"—words straight out of the former Labour leader's mouth when he too was con- testing the party leadership. When Borg talks about keep- ing Dar Centrali's doors open to everyone, it harks back to Muscat's own open-door pol- icy. Even Borg's proposal for a party CEO was one taken by Muscat when first elect- ed party leader. Thus is the complicated legacy of Joseph Muscat. It also appears that a PN led by the Gozitan MP will put less emphasis on ideology. On euthanasia, Borg already made it clear that he would al- low MPs a free vote if the gov- ernment's current proposal is tabled as a bill in parliament. When talking about his own ideology, he said he'd con- sider himself centre-right but still agrees on 'socialist' pol- icies such as free healthcare and education. It sounds like Muscat's words—socialist in wealth distribution but cen- tre-right in his outlook on the economy, taxation and the free market. To take stock of the politi- cal landscape so far—we have a party in government with a bit of an arrogance prob- lem and an Opposition with a credibility issue that needs to recover from years of divi- sion. Meanwhile, a young can- didate appears with promises of a winning mentality. I think I've seen this film before. NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt "My basic principles are centre-right but that doesn't mean there aren't socialist things that I agree with such as bolstering social services, the welfare state, free healthcare and education. Every party agrees with these things because everyone benefits from them. This is the sort of politics we need—including everyone, excluding no one." Interview pull-out "The PN is in the need of everyone, and cannot close the door to anyone. The media loves to spotlight these individuals because they are a bit more colourful than others. But should the PN only think about these individuals, when it has hurt thousands? Let's speak with these thousands." Check out the interviews in MT2 Alex Borg Adrian Delia This is a leadership election limited to the party's tesserati, and they're going to be far more interested in party matters over national affairs Alex Borg (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)