PN MEP candidate wants to make 'blue hat greener'

MEP candidate Alan Deidun yesterday pledged to build an environmental movement within the Nationalist Party.

Speaking during a debate in Naxxar, Dr Deidun said the PN can be a real environmentalist party.

Despite contesting the forthcoming European Parliament elections on the Nationalist Party ticket, the 30-year-old biologist and university lecturer insisted he would not be prevented from speaking out about the environment by expectations that he should toe the party line.

"I am an environmentalist who is being loaned to politics. I am not going to be silenced," the PN's youngest MEP candidate said.

"I am not removing my green hat and replacing it with a blue one, but I will work to make the party's blue hat greener," he insisted.

Dr Deidun said one of the reasons behind his decision to contest on the PN ticket was because the party did not shy away from taking tough decisions when it came to the environment, which he described as a big vote-loser.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the last general election and marked six years since the EU referendum. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that while a lot has been done over the past year, still more needed to be done.

He said the country would reap results if it remained focused on employment, investment and economic activity. Speaking about the international financial turbulence, Dr Gonzi said the Labour Party seems to want to make people forget about the situation.

"We cannot for a millisecond lose sight of what is happening internationally," he said, adding that the Opposition's attempts to divert attention from what was important was not in the national interest.

What happened in other countries affected local companies, and workers' destinies therefore hung in the balance, he said.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said the government was trying to help companies in difficulty remain in Malta and create new jobs.

On Saturday, he announced that the government would be helping Trelleborg Sealing Solutions increase its production lines. A similar agreement was reached with Methode Electronics two weeks ago.

"There are other companies experiencing problems and we will sit down with each one of them and make sure we save every job we can," he said.

In a statement issued in the evening, the Labour Party accused Dr Gonzi of being detached from reality, ignoring the water and electricity bills and not admitting that tourism was in recession.