The Opposition will be coming up with a number of new proposals to show the people where a Nationalist government would take the country after 2018, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said this evening.
Speaking during Net TV’s programme Iswed fuq l-Abjad, Dr Busuttil said the people were acknowledging that the PN was making a difference even from the Opposition but they now had to start seeing the party as an alternative government.
The proposals the party would be making, he said, would not be more of the same but would show the people that the PN was using its time in Opposition well.
The PN’s hard work, he said, bore fruit in the local elections and brought relief to the party and to the people who supported it as well as to people who believed in a democracy and in the need for a strong opposition.
The reshuffle he had made, he said, had an impact on the result because it showed that the PN was a party that could change. There was still a lot to be done but the people had acknowledged the party’s efforts so far.
Dr Busuttil thanked the people who gave him the chance to win their confidence and promised to work to show them that he deserved it and deserved to retain it even in the general election. “I will not take your confidence forgranted,” he promised.
The Opposition leader said he was determined to revive the PN in the south of Malta. “We have stopped the haemorrhage and started to reverse it,” he said.
Dr Busuttil said that the local elections result had psychologically destroyed the idea that the PN had to stay in Opposition for at least 10 years.
People had now started to believe that the government had a challenge.
“People who had written us changed their opinion. This is of great encouragement to us and fills us with enthusiasm and motivation. The result also reflects my determination to seriously get there,” Dr Busuttil said.
“The way ahead is tough, we were attacked when everyone believed we would remain in Opposition, let alone now when we have shown we are halfway there. But we have been filled with new energy and courage.”
On the PN’s disappointing result in Gozo, Dr Busuttil said the referendum was partly to blame as the Prime Minister had campaigned in spite of promising not to.
However, this was not the only reason. The PN had to work much harder in Gozo. “I am determined to do this. Gozo was always a PN fortress and I want to once again make the PN strong in Gozo and will take any decision necessary to ensure this,” Dr Busuttil said.
MIGRANT TRAGEDIES
Speaking on the migrant tragedies taking place in the Mediterranean with thousands of people losing their life as they attempt to cross from Africa to Europe, Dr Busuttil said that the problem was that there was not enough Europe.
A naval military presence to monitor and stop boats from crossing was needed but the EU did not have such a presence and had to depend on individual countries.
The same could be said for burden sharing. The EU did not have a right to distribute migrants among its countries itself.
Europe, he said, had to be given a greater role to address the issue.