For the past two years, we were often told that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is invincible and that the PN stood no chance in turning the situation around. The local council elections proved otherwise.
For the first time since 2008, when the PN won the general elections with a wafer-thin majority, we managed to turn the situation around where support for the party has gone up – remarkably.
Last week we demonstrated that the PN is back in business. The PN managed to make inroads in what are traditionally Labour strongholds in the south of Malta, substantially increasing its share of the votes in localities such as Birżebbuġa, Marsaxlokk, Paola and Żurrieq.
Despite Labour’s efforts to downplay the result, it gave the PN a ray of hope and a lot of determination to succeed. We have a lot of work to do, but the result proved that we’re half way through. The road ahead is bumpy and uphill for the PN, but through their vote people have told us that we are on the right track – with still much work and convincing to do. People have also told Labour to watch out, that underestimating Simon Busuttil is a mistake and that its invincible attitude (often demonstrated through arrogant behaviour) is not appreciated.
Hard work pays off. We, as the new leadership team, took helm of the Nationalist Party when it was flat on its back. Despite gaining the third seat, the last round of MEP elections did not help to convince people that the reforms we were carrying out in order to rebuild the party were paying off. I often met people, including staunch Nationalist Party supporters, who had written the PN off – claiming that Muscat was invincible and that we stood no chance of making inroads despite our huge efforts. We never gave up.
Busuttil and deputy leaders Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami focused their efforts on reaching out to people who had given up on the PN for several reasons – genuine Nationalist Party supporters who felt abandoned by their party and voted Labour for the first time in 2013, and middle-of-the-road voters who felt that the PN needed a radical shake-up.
They worked tirelessly, leaving no stone unturned in listening to their grievances and explaining to them that the PN regretted its past mistakes and was doing its best to change for the better. Theirs is work in progress with still much work and convincing to do.
Despite the local council elections result, the PN needs to prove further that it has changed for the better, that it is closer to the people’s needs and aspirations, aware that it has hurt a substantial chunk of its traditional voters and that it is ready and truly pro-business.
On my part, as the new PN secretary general, I was tasked with what many deemed to be an impossible task: putting our house in order, stopping the financial bleeding, and turning our media from being a major cause of financial loss to a profit-making operation.
In the first months of my term I had no option but to use the surgeon’s scissors and stop the internal haemorrhaging. Today, and after a lot of sacrifices by all involved, we’ve put our house and finances in order, and Medialink’s operations are no longer a financial liability. After months of hard work, they have started to make small but significant profits.
Under my watch, the PN will once again become the natural choice for Gozitans
In parallel to rebuilding the commercial arm of the party and putting our house in order, with the help of our colleagues, myself and the party leader helped set up new party structures to reach out and attract new people to the PN. Today we have an encouraging number of people who through these new structures are pooling in their ideas for a new Nationalist Party.
A few months ago, Busuttil appointed me shadow minister for Gozo – which, given the circumstances – because of the huge challenges facing the PN in Gozo, is a mammoth task. From being the natural party for Gozo, the PN has, for many reasons, lost significant support among Gozitans. Many Gozitans feel disenchanted by the PN, and while the PN managed to make remarkable in roads in Malta, especially in the south, at the last local council elections it still failed to make inroads in Gozo.
I have taken note of this situation and in the same way that I have turned things round within the PN and its commercial operations in less than two years, I am determined to do the same in Gozo. I am determined to succeed. Make no mistake – I will hit the ground running in my district. The PN will once again become the natural party for Gozo and my fellow Gozitans.
Of course, the fact that the local council campaigns coincided with the spring hunting referendum helped Labour – which campaigned actively in favour of the Yes vote, to make strong gains in Gozo. However, this is not a good enough reason for me and the Nationalist Party to put our mind at rest. We have serious challenges in Gozo, as a party, and we are going to address them without undue delay.
The local councils’ election has shown that the PN is able to make at a difference, even at council level. Now that the Prime Minister has lost his image of invincibility, the next general election in three years’ time will not be a foregone Labour victory.
However, I caution against misplaced triumphalism. We had every reason to celebrate last Saturday, but now that we’re back in business we need to remain focused, aware that we still have a long way to go before we regain the trust of the majority. It was a team effort, and we managed to make significant inroads.
The local elections give me motivation, energy and determination to continue changing the party to help win back voter confidence in three years’ time. Like the rest of the new leadership team, I am determined to succeed.
Chris Said is PN secretary general and shadow minister for Gozo.