Regenerating the party

The inauguration of the new Nationalist Party headquarters last Saturday marked the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one, hopefully as prosperous as the previous one for the PN. It is indeed the culmination of an exercise of regenerating oneself and, after two decades in government, the PN looks as young and as energetic as ever.

The new building will etch Joe Saliba's name in the history of the party as it is no secret that it was he who persisted to embark on such an ambitious project. It symbolises the vision of the PN to always look forward and keep adjourned with the times. It very much reflects the way that the PN thinks and acts. So, hats off to Mr Saliba and all those involved in this massive project.

On such an occasion one must also remember those who have contributed throughout the years to make the PN the great party it is today.

People like George Bonello du Puis, who was treasurer of the party in one of the toughest periods in its history, and members of the George Borg Olivier team like Carmelo Caruana, who was the mastermind behind the former headquarters building. At that time it was quite a feat raising the necessary funds, especially as it was not easy to publicly support the PN for fear of repercussions. On the same note, the incessant work of the present treasurer, Peter Darmanin, cannot go unnoticed.

For people like these, their role within the party was never a nine-to-five job. They were there when needed and I am sure that all the present officials have the same mentality.

Of course, one cannot tackle this subject without mentioning Eddie Fenech Adami who was at the helm of all these projects and was indeed the instigator of the first regeneration process of the party. Dr Fenech Adami strengthened the structures of the party and transformed a party run by part-timers into a professional organisation.

The headquarters, or L-istamperija (the printing press), is much more than a building that houses administrative offices. Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s it was a symbol of resistance, a centre where political ideas were shared and where the policy of dialogue was always top priority.

It was from there that our leaders fought against the politics of arrogance and violence of the Socialist regime and managed to safeguard democracy in our country.

The PN was always a party with a vision and all its officials have always shared the same goal of improving on the work done by their predecessors and embark on new and ambitious projects for the benefit of all. We have seen our party move on and, just like in the case of the outgoing general secretary, all those before him have left indelible marks in the history of our party.

We must now seek the way forward. With the building fully functional, we must now ensure that the HQ will remain a centre of political thought, a centre where everyone is welcome to share his or her ideas. We should remain the party for all the people, appealing to everyone and working in everyone's interest not for one particular sector of society.

The PN has learned to adapt to the times and regenerate itself when needed. We have learnt to adapt our policies so that no one is left behind.

After three consecutive election victories it is easy to become complacent but we must not make this mistake.

The Maltese citizens have trusted us once more with leading the country because they believe in our policies and our aim should be to be as close to the electorate as possible in order to feel its pulse.

Lawrence Gonzi has managed to do this on a national level. He understood what the electorate wanted.

He promised them what they wanted and now his government is delivering on these promises.

We must do the same at party level. Our new general secretary must keep close contact with the grassroots so that he can structure our policies in a way that is most beneficial. It is of utmost importance to have someone that can filter the message of the people down the party system in order to be able to work in synchronisation and pull at the same rope.

The word regeneration has been used quite a lot by the PN during these last few weeks and this process is perhaps one of the advantages we as a party have over the Labour Party. Even though they had a recent change in leadership they are far from starting a process of regeneration.

For them it has to be a process of rehabilitation first and, I guess, that won't be as rosy as they are trying to picture it now with the slogan of "Welcome all and love all". Real politics goes much deeper than slogans and fancy words.

Mr Casa is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.

www.davidcasa.eu, david.casa@europarl.europa.eu