Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545385
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JUNE 2026 ANALYSIS OPEN CALLS FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS IMPORTANT NOTICE Extension of Closing Date for Project Proposals under the European Social Fund+ 2021-2027 The Managing Authority would like to notify interested applicants that the closing date for the below two calls under Priority 2 - Fostering Active Inclusion for All is being extended from 22 nd June 2026 to 7 th September 2026, noon. • Call 17 – Specific Objective: 4.8 – Active inclusion and employability open to Non-Governmental Organisations/Voluntary Organisations and Social Partners • Call 18 – Specific Objective: 4.11 – Equal access to quality social and healthcare services open to Non- Governmental Organisations/Voluntary Organisations and Social Partners For further information, the Managing Authority can be contacted via email at fondi.eu@gov.mt. THE PN'S C PROBLEM: Conrad Borg Manche's comments on Pride have exposed a contradiction at the heart of the Nationalist Party. a modern liberal centre-right force, a more conservative alternative to Labour, or continue postponing a choice CONRAD Borg Manche's first major intervention as a newly elected PN MP was always go- ing to attract attention. Elected from two districts and present- ed as one of the party's star can- didates, Borg Manche made it clear in an interview with Malt- aToday that he has no intention of taking away LGBTQI+ rights. Yet, he also questioned the need for Pride celebrations now that equality is a done deal, and expressed discomfort at chil- dren being exposed to what he described as LGBTQI+ life- styles. His comments stopped short of advocating any legislative rollback. But they echoed a fa- miliar line increasingly heard across the conservative right; rights may be accepted, but vis- ibility remains contested. Moreover, the discourse is hardened on the emphasis of protecting children. And if chil- dren need protection, the im- plication is that diversity is still viewed with suspicion. This distinction matters. His- torically, LGBTQI+ people were not only denied rights; they were denied visibility. The struggle was not simply for le- gal recognition but for the right to exist openly in society. Pride emerged precisely because invisibility had long been en- forced through stigma, discrim- ination and exclusion. Questioning that visibility while accepting formal rights does not necessarily disman- tle legal protections, but it can erode the social foundations on which those rights rest. In this sense, Borg Manche's remarks are significant not because they threaten immediate legislative change but because they signal the emergence of a more confi- dent conservative current with- in the PN. The paradox of the big tent The PN has always been a coa- lition rather than an ideological monolith. To be electorally via- ble it must accommodate both conservatives and liberals. For much of its modern histo- ry this balancing act was man- aged through a larger unifying mission. Under Eddie Fenech Adami, the party maintained a socially conservative out- look while keeping liberals on board through its commitment to European integration. EU membership transformed the PN into a party associated with openness, reform and a conti- nental outlook. The result was a broad coali- tion. While much of the party's electorate remained culturally conservative, it was generally less inward-looking than other sections of Maltese society. But once EU membership was achieved and the divorce ref- erendum exposed deep internal divisions, the party entered an identity crisis from which it has never fully recovered. The over- riding mission that had held different factions together dis- appeared. What remained was an uneasy coexistence between competing visions of what the PN should represent. Alex Borg's balancing act Alex Borg embodies many of these contradictions. In some respects, he represents a post-Christian democratic gen- eration in his party, one which is oblivious to the balancing acts of a party which once in- cluded staunch conservatives like Eddie Fenech Adami, lib- erals like Michael Falzon and a 'Christian democratic' faction under the direct influence of the late Fr Peter Serracino In- glott, who unlike Borg would probably have had no difficul- ty with another mosque being constructed. Borg's profile in not that of a typical PN leader. He has a divorced single parent as a partner, attends Pride celebra- tions and leads a party whose most recent manifesto not on- ly defended existing LGBTQI+ rights but proposed extending protection against discrimina- tion in the provision of services. At the same time, he has ruled out any discussion on abortion, invoked Christian democracy against the establishment of a mosque and, before becoming leader, argued that government should prioritise financial assis- tance for fibromyalgia sufferers over funding sex reassignment surgery. The message appears contra- dictory because it is intended to be. Borg understands that win- ning requires holding together constituencies that increasingly pull in different directions. This balancing act was already evident before the election. The PN reached out to conservative figures such as Edwin Vassallo, while stopping short of fully em- bracing them. It recruited Borg Manche despite his alignment with the European Conserva- tives and Reformists during the European Parliament elections in 2024. Yet it simultaneously campaigned on one of the most progressive LGBTQI+ rights manifestos in its history. The formula worked during the campaign. Borg Manche's comments, however, have ex- posed just how fragile that in- ternal equilibrium may be. Three roads ahead The PN now faces three pos- sible paths. One option is that of becoming a liberal centrist party by following the path tak- en by Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael in Ireland, a country which like Malta was very Catholic and conservative. Varadkar, himself openly gay and a prominent figure within the European People's Party, demonstrated how a tradition- al centre-right party can evolve into a broadly liberal democrat- ic force while retaining fiscal moderation and pro-business instincts. Under this model, the PN would embrace liberal positions on civil liberties, migration and Borg Manche's remarks are significant not because they threaten immediate legislative change but because they signal the emergence of a more confident conservative current within the PN Can Alex keep conservatives