Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545966
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. PHOTOS: DANIEL TIHN / MALTA TODAY 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JULY 2026 INTERVIEW In the last election the Nation- alist Party lost by 22,000 votes. It is my impression that despite this significant loss there are some within the party, who still considered this a victory be- cause the gap was halved. Where is the humility required to un- derstand why the PN lost? [The election] …it was definitely a loss. We have to be realistic. The people chose the Labour Party once again to lead the government for the next five years and we recognise that in a democracy we have to submit to the will of the people. The moment the election result was confirmed, I called the prime minister to wish him well for the next five years… at no point did I say it was not a loss… But I cannot ignore the positive aspects. I became Opposition leader six months before the election. I did not have Robert Abela's luxury of having been in the role of prime minister for six years. Nonetheless, despite being an electoral loss, and a substantial one at that, within the grand scheme of things we achieved positive things. We started with a 40,000-vote deficit. This election also showed the Nationalist Party increasing its votes across all districts, especially in Gozo. In Gozo, there was the largest swing towards the PN. We also saw strong performances in districts that are traditionally Labour. These things cannot be ignored. We learn from them and build on them for the next five years. There was also the phenomenon of Labour voters who stayed at home. You did not manage to convince them to shift their vote. They preferred not to vote. In the few months I was leader, these people may not have trusted me to deliver on where I wanted the country to go. But now, I have a longer period to convince them we truly have the political will to lead this country on the right path. It's like having a product, which you will not buy before being 100% convinced of it. After seeing the results of this product, you will eventually go for it. Our target for the next five years is to strengthen ourselves internally, build our credibility, and for me to become more mature and gain more political experience, so that when the next general election arrives, I will be in a better position to win over the support of a majority of people. The last time the PN won an ab- solute majority was in the 2003 general election—the one that decided the fate of Malta's EU membership. Since then, 23 years have passed and throughout this period, the PN failed to find the formula to convince an absolute majority of voters to rally behind it. What will you be doing differ- ent, to change this predicament? In 2003, I was eight years old. I've read the party's political history and we need to understand where we can improve things and build on the positive aspects to acquire people's trust. At the end of the day, I am not someone who looks to the past but rather towards the future… we need to learn from the past, we need to address those things where people felt we wronged them, but we also need to build on what is good... In your speech after you were con- firmed leader, you announced a re- vision in the statute to modernise the party, make it more efficient and become more open. You also warned that the process will not be easy. What will change? And what will not be easy? Several things will change. They will not be cosmetic changes… this will be a revolutionary change, something the party has never experienced. This will change the dynamics within the party; the structures. It will make the party more dynamic, more modern and more in tune with people's reality. We will not be throwing away the party's values but we will have a more practical statute; the statute should serve the party and not the other way round… What will not be easy in all this? Will there be individuals who feel left out? This is a statute that has been revised over the years but in its majority, it is the statute the party adopted upon its creation. This is something people have become accustomed to and change is difficult for people to accept. I know that I form part of a conservative party but I believe, people are today more recipient to change. My own election is a clear certificate that the party has become more progressive in outlook. I am a 30-year-old young person and not a typical PN leader. The fact that councillors and members chose me shows they are more recipient to change… There will be some who will express doubts initially because this will be a radical change… When you insist on the need for the party to be more open; what are you saying exactly? Because the flipside of this is that until now the party has not been open enough. Do people with liberal views have a place in the PN? It's not just a question of being open but we have to ensure that those who do approach us are comfortable to work here. If someone, who has voted Labour all their life comes to us, I want that person to be comfortable joining us and working within the party structures… I want people of good will to be comfortable being part of the PN… For the party to reach an absolute majority it needs to grow beyond its core. You mentioned the party values but society may be asking for a different attitude from your end. How can someone, who is lib- eral feel comfortable in the PN? Our values do not make us anti-liberal. Values are not there to divide people but rather to unite them. And that is the manner by which the statutory reforms will embrace people with differing views but who all have an end goal—to see a better Malta and Gozo… The PN said that in principle it agrees with the Equality Bill put forward by the government but when it came to the final vote, which required a two-thirds ma- jority, you walked out of parlia- ment, preventing the required majority from being reached. For those who cherish equality and believe in the importance of that law, they will see the PN in the same light as the party, which in the past had abstained on the civil unions law and opposed certain changes to IVF. Isn't there a gulf between your words and the facts? I am not uncomfortable because the choice to exit parliament was not because we disagreed with the law—if we did, we would have voted against it. We walked out of parliament to give a voice to the voiceless. There were 26 NGOs and not all were conservative—they included the MGRM, the Chamber of Commerce, Women for Women, Graffitti—that expressed concern over a lack of consultation. Can I vote in favour or against a law when no opportunity was given to those that will be impacted directly to be consulted. We had warned the minister on the lack of consultation… this bill had nothing to do with what had been presented in previous years. The bill was only handed to the Opposition 11 days before [it was discussed]; how could we be expected to consult with all these groups, gather their proposed amendments and table our proposals in parliament? We walked out of parliament not because we were against the law, otherwise we would have voted against. The final aim was the same be- cause the law did not pass. If we voted against it would not have gone back to the drawing board. We created the opportunity for the law to go back to the drawing board; to consult with these groups… These different groups put for- ward proposals for change that could be conflicting. What I want to know is where does the PN stand on this law? In principle we are in favour. Malta and Italy are the only countries without a specific human rights commissioner. I am aware of the need to have such an institution. But at the end of the day, we have to understand that the organisations, which >> CONTINUES NEXT PAGE