Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/842553
3 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 JUNE 2017 News Alex Perici Calascione considering PN leadership Outgoing PN treasurer Alex Perici Calascione has confirmed he is considering contesting the party leadership contest and is "giving the matter that type of consideration which is as serious as the subject matter demands" PAUL COCKS THE Nationalist Party's outgo- ing treasurer, Alex Perici Ca- lascione, is seriously consider- ing contesting the upcoming leadership contest, MaltaTo- day has learnt. The 55-year-old lawyer con- firmed that many people were encouraging him to join the fray to succeed Simon Busuttil, who, following the party's de- feat in the 3 June election, said he would be stepping down. The rest of the party's lead- ership, including Perici Calas- cione, said they too would not be seeking re-election for the same positions. Perici Calascione told Mal- taToday that he was consider- ing the matter "seriously" and would not say which way he was leaning. "I have been approached by quite a number of people over the past week or so in order to give this matter very serious consideration," he said. "This is what I shall be doing over the coming few days." Perici Calascione insisted he was fully committed to the PN. "I believe that such a com- mitment requires that such an important issue is approached with the maximum responsi- bility by anyone concerned or interested," he said. "At this stage I feel I can only say that whilst the approaches made to me were both sub- stantial and encouraging, I am giving the matter that type of consideration which is as seri- ous as the subject matter de- mands." If he does decide to contest the leadership election, Perici Calascione will be the third person to confirm their inter- est, after Birkirkara FC presi- dent Adrian Delia last week- end, and Gozo MP and former PN secretary general Chris Said last night confirmed they would be contesting. Perici Calascione has been practising law since 1987, prin- cipally within the sphere of corporate and financial servic- es and international contracts and has acted as legal advisor to a number of leading Maltese and foreign companies and or- ganisations. In 1991, he was appointed Commissioner of Justice and served until 1996, when he was made partner at Emmanuel Mallia and Associates (Malta). Perici Calascione has worked for a number of years within the sphere of voluntary organi- sations for disabled persons, serving on the board of gov- ernors of Razzett tal-Hbiberija between 1998 and 2008. He was elected to the execu- tive committee of the Nation- alist Party in March 2013 and subsequently elected to the post of party treasurer and member of the administrative council. He was elected once again to the executive com- mittee of the Nationalist Party and subsequently confirmed as party treasurer on 4 June 2015. He contested the 3 June gen- eral election but did not make it to Parliament. Alex married MayAnne née Pisani on May 3, 1986. He is father of three children, Maria Elena (March 7, 1987); Veroni- ca Anne (March 28, 1988) and John Joseph (March 29, 1993). Seeking wide-ranging talks CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 As Par- liamentary Secretary within the Office of the Prime Minister he reformed the system of Local Gov- ernment in Malta, empowered Lo- cal Councils with new responsibili- ties, set up the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC), strengthened the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) and launched the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA). During his two-year-term as Sec- retary General of the National- ist Party between 2013 and 2015, Chris Said brought to an end the party's financial haemorrhage and in the 2015 Local Council elections slashed the gap with the Labour Party by almost 50%. The eldest amongst 13 siblings and the son of a self-employed, Said credits his family for instilling in him the right values for a life in politics. "Being the eldest of 13 means that you have to quickly learn how to compromise, how to reach out, how to bring out the best in others, how to meet others half way, how to negotiate for whatever you need, how to let – at times – bygones be bygones. I also learned early in life that whatever I had needed to be passed on to others. Above all, I learned that nothing in life comes for free and you have to work hard to reach your objectives." Said, the youngest of the two con- testants who have so far confirmed they will be contesting the post, will now be launching what he termed as a "conversation" with a wide spec- trum of people. "I will be meeting party members, activists, my fellow MPs – with whom I want to work as one united team, the members of the PN exec- utive committee, men and women who give their all to the party – and the civil society. "These meetings will consoli- date my vision and my programme to take forward the party and the country. I will present the plan once I submit my nomination to become the next leader of the Nationalist Party." Asked what would be the ingredi- ents for the success of the Nation- alist Party, the MP said the party should never stop building bridges. "We need to involve everyone willing to be part of this country's future. Through a bottom-up ap- proach we will come up with the right policies for this country, built around the dignity of the individu- al, and aimed at creating a society for the many and not the few." Said described his leadership style as straight forward: "I will support the right decisions taken by the gov- ernment and seek ways how to im- prove them. But will come down like a tonne of bricks on what is wrong and unacceptable. Compromise, yes, but not at the cost of shoving aside the values that are dear to our people. "We will reach out to traditional Nationalist voters who left us in 2013 and again in 2017. We need to make them feel comfortable sup- porting their party again. We can- not be perceived as being the party which opposes for the sake of op- posing. Making peoples' life better will be our utmost priority." Chris Said Chris Said was born in 1970 in Nadur, and is a lawyer by profession. He entered politics at a young age when he joined the Moviment Zghazagh Partit Nazzjonalista (MZPN) and served on the KSU while at university. Said returned to politics in 1993 when he was elected to the Nadur local council, going on to serve as mayor from 1999 to 2008. In March 2008, he was elected to parliament and was appointed by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi as parliamentary secretary for public dialogue and information. In a cabinet reshuffle in November 2010, Said was appointed parliamentary secretary for consumers, fair competition and local councils, before being called to serve as Minister of Justice in January 2012. He was re-elected to parliament in March 2013 and went on to become PN secretary general on 5 June, 2013 after Paul Borg Olivier stepped down. He won 58 votes out of a total of 62 cast by the party executive. Three people voted against and one vote was invalid. He was uncontested but a vote was still needed. Said resigned his post at the end of May 2015, the reason given being because he was asked by party leader Simon Busuttil to focus his energy and attention on Gozo, where in the 2013 election for the first time ever Labour elected a majority of three MPs from Gozo, a traditional PN stronghold. In the last election on June 3, he was the most voted among PN candidates in Gozo, earning 4,642 first-count votes, followed by Marthese Portelli with 2,622. Said is married to Linda nee Attard and they have three children, Anastasia, Andrea Chris Said Alex Perici Calascione