Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/900922
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2017 News 6 PN DEPUTY LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS This Saturday, the Nationalist Party will be electing its two deputy leaders. DAVID AGIUS and EDWIN VASSALLO are contesting the election to replace Mario de Marco as Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs EDWIN VASSALLO Overcoming challenges and regaining credibility DAVID AGIUS A s the elections for new deputy leaders of the Nationalist Party in Malta draw closer with only a few days to go until Nationalist Party members cast their ballot, on a European level, the European Parliament discussed a resolution specifically on the rule of law in Malta and the clear deterioration thereof. Who does not regret that the developments in Malta in recent years have led to serious concerns about the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights, including freedom of the media, and the independence of the police and the judiciary? A dismal declaration of this kind should serve as a wake-up call for us to, as our own Prime Minister so famously once said, 'wake up and smell the coffee'. Our country is in a bad shape and it falls upon the good, honest citizens of Malta to counter against a culture of impunity and indifference and to ask: What is expected from me? I too, throughout years of student activism and later involvement in politics and the Nationalist Party, repeatedly asked myself that question. Its answer has proved to be the reason why today I am where I am, and why today, I yearn to give my party and my country more. That is why today, I stand before a college of thousands of people, all members of the Nationalist Party Convention, looking back on years of results-driven experience while at the same time, looking forward to give more. I chose "Aktar Hidma b'lealta' - Dejjem ghas-servizz tieghek" (More loyal work - Always at your service) as my slogan for this campaign. "More work" because as Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs, I intend to ensure that the Nationalist Party, as the Opposition force in Parliament, remains strong and coherent in the face of a Government that is deliberately choosing to ignore the crisis our country is facing, and act as if matters are 'business as usual'. I have served as Whip for nine whole years, even during some of Partit Nazzjonalista's darker days. Nevertheless, in the past four years we have shown that an Opposition can be constructive as much as it can be adversarial. As an Opposition, we presented countless Private Members' Bills and from the Opposition benches we ushered the introduction of the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life (albeit still waiting for the Government to appoint one). Now we look forward to push forward a set of proposals for Parliamentary reform, among which we would like to see the introduction of a 'Prime Minister's Question Time'. I need not remind one and all of our top priority at the moment – that as soon as possible, the law is changed so that both the Commissioner of the Police and the Attorney General are elected by a two- thirds Parliamentary majority. "Loyal" because above all, the spirit in which I am contesting the election of Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs is that of collegiality within a party whose aim is clear: that of persisting in advocating good governance, honesty, clean politics and most importantly: normality. These are values which I hold dear and which I have practised throughout my political career. I am in full agreement with Nationalist Party Leader Adrian Delia who recently stated in a session of the PN General Council that we must all stand united to fight corruption, and that we need to strengthen our values – but perhaps change the way we transmit them to the public. And finally, "at your service" because what is politics if not a mission of service towards to the people to whom we are responsible? I have spent hours upon hours knocking on doors, longing to meet people, hearing them out and bringing their concerns to the attention of Parliament and the authorities. I commit myself to 'more loyal work - always at your service' if PN members put their faith in me this Saturday. I owe it, not to myself, but to the people and the country. W e cannot continue to use the same old political methods of yesterday, we need to radically change our approach. There have been many important amendments in recent years to get to show that the party is more open to new ideas , yet the party needs to be shown as being more open to the people's needs. Social inclusion requires that the values of social inclusion must be the values upon which the PN be rebuilt anew. The values of commitment and solidarity are those which can make us closer to the people, especially those who most need the support of the rest of society. We must, as politicians, get into the social issues which are affecting society, and be near the people. This, after all, is what politics should be, what we are supposed to be doing in parliament and outside of it. We must make politics that are credible, empathic and faithful towards the aspirations of our fellow citizens. When I propose to build the party anew, I am not proposing such a process in regards to internal structures, as such issues have already been addressed. Rather, I am referring to the need of having a change in attitude towards those who we are called to serve, those whom we expect them to vote for us so that we can provide them with good governance and address their needs. There must be a change in attitude in which the people become a priority, before politics and before any other consideration. In our political frame of mind, human dignity must come first. A Party built on dialogue Our party must adopt a new attitude towards its potential voters, one of outreach in which we go towards those whom we want to address. We must discuss and engage in dialogue with all the structure and sections that make up our party as well as with all sections of our society. All communities that make up our Nation must be engaged since they all have something to tell us. This is the beauty of dialogue, a process that fosters a social conscience in politics and brings unity. After all if we want to tackle the current 'mafia' blight in our society, unity should be the main strategy. Only once this is achieved can we start winning credibility within the party and with society at large. A Party that reaffirms and strengthens its identity. Our party's identity after two subsequent electoral defeats and a rather bumpy leadership contest is also being challenged. There are challenges to be faced especially with regard to whether we utilise old approaches or try new ones. I believe that there cannot be a party without polemics, a fact towards which the PN can attest. By being a party that upholds liberty as a value, it has never been short of polemics. Yet, at the same time, it is a party that always avoids the pitfalls of populism and libertinism, a party that upholds and gives importance to moral and ethical values inspired by both Christian and Humanistic thought. Most of all it must avoid trying to find a solution to its woes by becoming a carbon copy of the PL, each time it tries to do this, it ends up losing. It must remain based on a Christian Democratic identity, otherwise it with lose all credibility. A party built on Human Values For the PN to regain its credibility, it must stay true to its Christian Democratic identity as described by its party statute. If it does not stand fast to its values, it will not be a proper alternative for the current administration. We must be an alternative to Muscat's party by upholding our values, by updating but not abandoning them. Otherwise how do we expect the people to trust us? It was always in the hour of need, when people turned to the PN, as the one you can trust in the darkest of hours, so it has been and so it shall be. This is what I believe and uphold, the need for change so that paradoxically we can still uphold our values, the need to put humanity in front of selfish individualism, the need to respect others, to search for truth, most of all to better understand the needs and wants of our people. More loyal work - Always at your service