Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/321747
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 JUNE 2014 13 Interview Muscat enjoys a 13-point advantage over Busuttil in the trust ratings, and at a time when the political landscape is transforming itself into a direct contest between party leaders, how does Busuttil intend to overcome this disadvantage? "First of all, one must accept reality. Muscat began on a high of a 36,000- vote majority. It stands to reason that he has such a high trust rating. The PN leader, whoever he was, was go- ing to have to start from zero. From zero, I have progressed slightly but am still far away from Muscat. "This is another obstacle I am de- termined to overcome and I assure you that part of the changes the PN needs to make addresses this issue specifically. Again, this is tied to communication – a weak commu- nication reflects on the image of the PN leader. One thing is tied to the other. I am conscious of this and am determined to do what I can to im- prove it." Busuttil admits that the PN was and remains disconnected from the people. He adds that overcoming this handicap has been the "biggest difficulty" he faced since becoming leader. "This was and remains my plat- form – to make the party the peo- ple's party. One has to earn the trust of the people by working hard and I have started to do this. I have visited people in their homes and visited different sectors to listen and un- derstand how we can change. By lis- tening to how people have felt hurt, abandoned or let down by the party, we can learn how to make changes that will help to regain their trust. One year was obviously not long enough to change people's minds. In the long run, this might be enough. This is something we still need to tackle." He says Muscat operates by being "everything to everyone" but Busut- til and the PN will not go down that road. "In life, it is difficult to be every- thing to everyone while remaining honest – to be everything to eve- ryone you would have to say yes to the environmentalists and yes to the hunters…till today, my message – simple and honest – has not hit home but in time, it will." Back to the direct contest between Muscat and Busuttil, the PN leader says that although the prime min- ister has so far proved to be a bet- ter salesman than he is, "the people need a statesman." In the past year, the government has been in campaign mode – hand- ing out goodies in the last week be- fore the election, making a budget in election mode, campaigning every weekend. That is the challenge the PN is up against, this sort of sales- manship. But we are not giving up. We must be good statesmen, which is the most important thing to me: a real people's party and better sales- men than we are now. Muscat defi- nitely wins in marketing so far." PN leader Simon Busuttil says the heavy loss at the polls only strengthens his resolve to return the PN to its former glory CIVIL UNIONS The decision was taken, that chapter is closed. I choose to look forward PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD