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2 maltatoday, MONDAY, 5 JUNE 2017 News 'We must keep the flame burning' – Busuttil doesn't raise resignation prospect PN deputy leaders concede defeat: 'Time to look to the future now' TIM DIACONO PRIME Minister Joseph Mus- cat called for national recon- ciliation and extended a hand of friendship to his opponents in his first comments after it was announced that Labour was projected to win the gen- eral election by a significant margin. "Optimism has triumphed over negativity, rumours and bitterness," he said to state broadcaster TVM yesterday afternoon. "Our next step is to achieve national reconcilia- tion after such a divisive cam- paign. I am ready to offer my hand of friendship to everyone who is willing to work towards the good of the country. The past four years will be noth- ing compared to what's still to come." He said it was too early to confirm rumours that La- bour had won the election by a 34,000-vote majority, but confirmed that his party has won by a "considerable mar- gin". "I attribute this victory to our positive campaign. There was an unprecedented attack on the government, on my- self and on my family, but the people chose to continue pro- gressing." He said that the next La- bour government will learn from the mistakes commit- ted by the past one, while continuing to build on the positive aspects of the previ- ous administration. "The country comes first and foremost, and I will do what it takes to ensure the country continues progressing." By the time of going to print, no official results had been issued by the Electoral Com- mission. TIM DIACONO PN leader Simon Busuttil did not give any indi- cation that he will resign as party leader, despite his party suffering a staggering election defeat. In a brief interview on Net TV, Busuttil said that the PN must take stock of the result and internally analyse how to renew itself as an Op- position, in the interests of the country and the party. "I am proud that the PN and the Forza Nazz- jonali represented our values of righteousness, truth and good governance," he said. "We lit a flame of hope and we must keep this flame burn- ing, because it would be wrong to let it burn out now. We represented something beautiful that we must keep alive." He said that the PN respected the public's dem- ocratic verdict and that it must react to it with "dignity and maturity". He thanked the people who voted for the PN and the Partit Demokratiku, the candidates, the officials and volunteers that helped in the cam- paign, the PN and independent media, his rela- tives, and his partner Kristina Chetcuti. Muscat: 'Time for national reconciliation after such a divisive campaign' Beppe Fenech Adami and Mario de Marco addressing the media at the Naxxar counting hall Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil says party must take stock of damning election result, but that it must 'keep the flame of hope burning' TIM DIACONO PN deputy leaders Beppe Fenech Adami and Mario de Marco have conceded defeat, telling the press in the count- ing hall that the party must now analyse the damning re- sult and look forward. Fenech Adami thanked the people who had helped the PN in the past five weeks and those who turned out to vote, saying the party must now look to the future. "We must analyse the re- sult and look to the future, so that the Nationalist Party can continue to progress," he said. A visibly emotional Mario de Marco said that good governance and the rule of law, key planks of the PN's election battle-cry, remain important issues despite the crushing defeat. "I thank the people for the high turnout, and we must now look forward to the fu- ture. I urge supporters of both sides to keep calm and show that political maturity reigns in this country," he said. "People will celebrate, but everyone should respect one another. We must realize that, at the end of the day, we are one nation and we must respect people with differing opinions." Simon Busuttil

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