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MT 30 July 2017

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 JULY 2017 4 News MIRIAM DALLI THE leader of the Democratic Party, Marlene Farrugia, says the new PN leader should be directly elected by all its paid-up members. The PN's final two candidates for leader will be chosen by the party's General Council and then put to the party's 22,000 member. "If it truly wants to become a people's party, the Nationalist Party must suspend its leadership election and amend its statute to allow all of its members to vote directly for their new leader. This way, the party can ensure the demise of cliques," Far- rugia, who dubbed the four candi- dates non-started, said. The first election with the four candidates will take place on Sep- tember 2, whilst the second elec- tion, with two candidates, is sched- uled for September 16. The statute only allows members to vote if they have been paying their member- ship for at least two years. Farrugia also suggested that Si- mon Busuttil stay on as leader up until early 2018, when an election would be held once a membership drive is launched by the party. "Things as they stand do not make sense," Farrugia complained on Facebook. "We, the PD mem- bers, stuck our necks out together with the PN in the most testing of times in Malta's contemporary history. We were elected to parlia- ment on the PN ticket. And yet, we cannot contest the leadership elec- tion or any other positions and we are not even able to vote." The PD's two MPs, Marlene and Godfrey Farrugia, were elected by fielding their candidatures on the PN ticket. "Do you think that any of the four candidates are going to give the country what it needs at the mo- ment?" Farrugia asked, amply mak- ing clear what she thinks of Adrian Delia, Chris Said, Alex Perici Calas- cione and Frank Portelli. PD leader: PN needs fresh elections DENISE GRECH PN leadership candidate Adrian Delia has denied rumours of a deal reached with the MPs Kristy and Jean Pierre Debono, that would pave for the latter to give us his seat for Delia to take a seat in the House, while wife Kristy contests the deputy lead- ership. Delia denied the allegation, reported by the Labour or- gan Kulhadd last Sunday. "I never made any deals with Jean Pierre Debono, I have never made any deals with anyone," Delia told MaltaToday. The lawyer was replying to questions during a press conference in Valletta, where he unveiled plans for self-employed companies that involved three main proposals: business clinics, access points, "buckets of hours", where legal and finan- cial professionals can offer their services to start-ups for free. Delia was also prodded on comments made by Partit Demokratiku leader Marlene Farrugia – elected to parliament on the PN ticket – who described the four leadership candidates as "non-starters". "I respect her opinion, and of course she's entitled to it," Delia replied. "But at the end of the day, this is an internal election, so her opinion doesn't make a difference. So, noted, but it doesn't make a difference." In presenting his proposals for self-em- ployed, Delia said his plans also include re- purposing local band clubs as office spaces for start-ups who need a place to work. Under his leadership, he said, the PN would be a one-stop shop – dubbed 'business clinic' – for small business own- ers who need help. "I appreciate that the PL went from a party which hated self-employed to a party that became more friendly with the sector," Delia said. "It's now time for the PN to go back to the party once representing opportunities and the same party that took Malta into the European Un- ion." Delia is also suggesting a "data bank" for start-ups to access the latest changes to laws. "Start-ups aren't always knowledgeable about legal changes that come into force and sometimes information is not readily avail- able." YANNICK PACE NATIONALIST Party leader hopeful Chris Said has pledged to commission a broad sociological study of Maltese society, that would allow the PN to "understand the changes that have taken place in recent years". Speaking in Valletta, Said said this would allow the PN to better understand people's problems and aspirations, while having a vision of society that was ahead of the times. "The PN was always steps ahead in its vision but in the last years that vi- sion had stalled and society surpassed the PN, which on occasions reacted late or even in the wrong way," he said. "We need to work towards a situation where society fol- lows the PN automatically." Only in this way, he said, could the PN go from passive spectator to agent of change, and said the study would focus on the fam- ily, work, quality of life, living together, good governance and communication. Said said the study would identify the "types of families" that make up society, and to identify those families most at risk of poverty. It would also offer the party insight into who the country's workers are, as well as answer questions such as how many were members of a union and the number of people working under precarious work conditions, among others. "Better mental and physical health need to be prioritised… the study will look into issues such as air quality, efficient trans- port systems and the importance of activities like feasts, sports and hunting." He also wanted to learn about "who the Maltese people trust" so that the party can under- stand the differences across towns and villages, and how to bridge individual rights with each person's social responsibility. The study would also allow the PN to find out what people understood by "good governance" and what faith they still re- tained in the country's institutions. Said said it would also be essential to un- derstand how people communicate. "Has Facebook become the new village square?" he asked. PN leadership candidate Frank Portelli claimed that he would work towards repatriating 80% of immigrants in Malta, in a tele- vised interview on TVM's current affairs programme, Dissett. Drawing a clear line on his posi- tion on the matter, he stated that the Nationalist Party needed to elect "a patriot" if it wanted to re- turn to power. The stance, redolent of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in the US, was made clearer when Portelli referenced the incident that occurred in Bugibba, where a number of foreign men came to blows last week. He claimed that some of these immigrants were "bringing their wars to Malta with them" while stating that he was against multi- culturalism. Portelli claimed his position on repatriation was justified be- cause "most migrants who come to Malta were in fact economic migrants." But UNCHR statistics show that a majority of migrants that arrive to Malta are given some form of international pro- tection, while the overwhelming majority of non-Maltese residents who live here for economic rea- sons are from the United King- dom, followed by Italy, Bulgaria and Germany. Portelli's comments followed an earlier video posted on Facebook claiming that the Imam Moham- med el Sadi's teachings were not in line with the Maltese Constitu- tion. He said the Imam had been quoted as saying that he found nothing wrong with cutting off a thief's hand, leading Portelli to say that such teachings could not be taught in Maltese schools. Positioning himself furthest to the right of the four leadership candidates, he also referenced the Equal Marriage Bill, claiming that Joseph Muscat was not really in favour of it but was using gays as political pawns. PN leadership election Delia: no deal with Debono power couple Said says PN needs study to understand people 'Patriot' Portelli wants to repatriate 80% of migrants Imam's teachings 'not in line with the Constitution'

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