Mario de Marco said yesterday the PN could not remain a conservative party as he outlined a vision for his leadership bid.

If we wanted to dish out permits to get votes, I wasn’t prepared to be an accomplice to this

The former tourism and environment minister stressed that the bruising defeat at the polls clearly showed the party had lost entire factions of society, not just individuals, and it had to work to remain in touch with society’s roots.

“I also suspect we lost the young people because we no longer reflected their aspirations.

“While in the past it was trendy to be Nationalist, this time round it was more hip to be Labour – we cannot remain a conservative party,” he said.

Dr de Marco also addressed criticism that the planning authority was a contributory factor to the PN’s electoral defeat.

“If we wanted to dish out permits to get votes, I wasn’t prepared to be an accomplice to this. I wanted to give Mepa an environmental face,” he said, when asked to what extent the planning authority had hurt him.

At a press conference to unveil his vision for the party, Dr de Marco took journalists back to before the 2008 general election, when there was huge disgruntlement and the authority was being harshly criticised by the Auditor General for the permits it doled out.

This was why then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had promised to take the authority under his wing and eventually entrusted Dr de Marco with implementing the reform.

“What Mepa did we want, one that opened the floodgates of permits and where the environment would be the victim?

“I think we made a reasoned choice. You don’t change the mindset overnight but hand on heart I feel I gave a more environmental dimension to Mepa,” he said.

Speaking against a backdrop with the message Tiġdid għall-Bidla (Renewal for Change) at the Hotel Excelsior, Dr de Marco said he will be presenting a document, with proposals split into 18 sections, to the party councillors for discussion ahead of the May 4 leadership election.

Dr de Marco constantly highlighted the need for the party to move closer to the people, a message emphasised by the three other contenders Simon Busuttil, Francis Zammit Dimech and newcomer Raymond Bugeja. What differentiated him from the rest?

“I’d be lying if I said I entered this race to win. I entered because I want to offer councillors a choice... party councillors need to choose what qualities the party needs,” he said.

Clearly uncomfortable when asked to describe his own qualities, Dr de Marco said: “It would be preposterous to say why they should choose me. I’d never say I’m better, but I’m different. People have preferences, you can choose Pepsi or you can opt for Coke.”

Ahead of the campaign, the PN was coming across as a divided, weak party and he felt that the infighting, which was happening in the open, had a huge impact.

Dr de Marco also felt the party had been out of touch with the realities of society on issues such as divorce – he was the first to speak out about this within the party structures – IVF, and civil unions among others.

“You can feel it, even when we were speaking about gay rights towards the end of the campaign. I have to be honest, we were not coming across as credible,” he said.

Looking back, Dr de Marco said few things had changed over the past 30 years and though the party structures had served the PN well in the past, these were no longer valid today and if the party ignored this reality it would be making a cardinal mistake.

“We have to change the way we do politics, the way we live politics and the way we implement politics in our everyday life,” he said.

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