As the Nationalist Party prepares to kickstart its electoral campaign on Independence Day, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil tells Caroline Muscat that it’s not his party that has a leadership crisis but the country: a crisis of principled leadership.

Will Independence Day celebrations this year mark the launch of the electoral campaign?

Independence is always the point when we kick off the political season. This time, we will also be switching on the party machine and we won’t be switching it off until the election, which we intend to win.

What’s the party’s vision?

First of all, I look at it from a personal point of view. What I’m doing essentially is presenting myself as candidate to lead the country. That’s a deeply personal decision because it affects me and my family… What makes me tick is that I can do something for the country that’s good. I think I can do better, much better, than the current government.

My vision is to see a country that is more just and strives towards excellence…let’s ditch mediocrity once and for all. Let’s do away with this mentality of ‘ejja ħa mmorru’ (anything goes). More needs to be done in this respect and I’m determined to do it.

How do you address criticism that you’re still not leadership material?

There’s a leadership crisis, isn’t there? But the leadership crisis I see isn’t in the Nationalist Party; it’s in the country. I see a crisis of principled leadership…

I want to give integrity and quality in government. I want to give solidarity and social justice – even that has been lacking in three and a half years of what’s supposed to be a socialist government.

Polls show the gap between the parties has widened again.

Any surveys, good or bad, I consider as part of the course. My objective remains the end of the race. I’m determined to get to the end and to win this election because I feel that our country deserves a better government and I can deliver that.

In the wake of the Panama scandal the parties were much closer so it’s a setback. What’s the cause?

There are ups and downs. This is what surveys are about. It’s clear we were very popular when we took the Panama scandal head on, and for good reason. We can’t have a good government if the people who are leading it have a secret company in Panama. How can I explain to my son that it’s ok to pay taxes while at the same time the people running the country have a secret company in Panama? Of course we made this argument strongly and it’s clear it resonated with people. When it tapered off, the government rediscovered some of its confidence but I don’t let that get in the way.

You’ve always spoken about integrity, principled leadership and good governance but this is all tied to you. There’s still criticism that the old party is there, that the PN doesn’t have a new vision.

I’m giving it the vision: a society that balances care and responsibility. Care towards those who need support and responsibility towards the common good because that has clearly gone out of the window. There’s always criticism and of course there’s a legacy, but I’ve drawn the line and I’m looking forward. I’m saying the PN comes with a history; most of it is a glorious history of which I’m proud, but we’ve also made mistakes I’ve learnt from. I’m determined to turn the page. I’m not here to be more of the same, both in terms of the old PN administration and still less in terms of the current government. That would be a waste of time for the people, as it would be for me. I want to work towards a society that is truly just and strives for excellence.

I’m in no businessman’s pocket. I never was and I never will be

Let’s refer to specific cases, like the news that Michael Fenech Adami was found to have breached public procurement rules when he was Birkirkara mayor. You defended him. Doesn’t this show a lack of consistency?

I was actually abroad with my family for two weeks when that happened. People started asking whether the leader ran away, but the truth is the party does have a leader and I’m here.

If something was wrong I’m not prepared to defend it. I draw the line, take the lesson and say that my good governance book will mean that I do things better. This is how I would interpret the conclusions in terms of Michael. But let’s not forget that the conclusions of that so-called inquiry were flawed because among the people judging him was Ronnie Pellegrini.

You can’t expect me to accept a kangaroo court in which Ronnie Pellegrini sits as judge… Of course I’m prepared to take on the recommendations of the Auditor General, as I have publicly stated.

This isn’t about going to the past and chopping off everyone’s head. This is about looking ahead and saying I won’t repeat these mistakes.

But did you look into the evidence?

The easiest thing for this government to do would be to set up kangaroo courts and attack Opposition figures one after the other…This isn’t something that happened under my leadership at the end of the day but I’m saying I’ve learnt the lesson. Michael has rebutted every single allegation.

Gozitan Mayor Samuel Azzopardi was found guilty of drink driving and refusing a breathalyser test. Again, you welcomed him back into the party.

I take full responsibility for that decision because it happened under my leadership. People might disagree with my decision but I took it conscientiously and because of the human side I saw. I know Samuel personally as someone who’s worked all his life helping victims of alcohol. I thought it would be hugely inhumane and insensitive to kick him out because he drank a second glass of wine at a wedding. This is why I kept him… something like this is hugely incomparable to the scandals all around us. The reason I did it is because of the personal situation at stake.

There’s discourse that there’s not much difference between the two political parties because a clique of businessmen shift and finance the party that will serve their interests. Is the PN different?

This makes me jump off my chair because I don’t want to be the lesser of two evils. I want to be the better choice… Putting both parties in the same boat is something that irks me a great deal. I want to prove this isn’t the case. I’m in no businessman’s pocket. I never was, I am not and I never will be. I will never engage in pre-electoral deals.  I won’t get too comfy with businessmen or their money. I won’t let my decisions be dictated by money. Under me, the party was not financed by the Gasans or the Tumases [Fenech] of this world. This is as clear and as brutally honest as I can be.

The PN chose to finance its operations through the Cedoli scheme. How much money has the party managed to borrow?

It’s doing extremely well. I’m pleased to say we’re about to hit the €3 million mark.

…This government focuses on buying political patronage but that’s not part of my book. There can be a different way, and that’s the principled approach. I believe there’s a majority of people who see beyond red or blue. They can see right from wrong. So maybe the election will not be between right and left but between right and wrong.

The PN was criticised because of its stand, or lack of it, on the Townsquare project.

Five high-rise buildings were granted in one day to the same family. It smacks of a pre-electoral deal. Under the PN those permits wouldn’t have been issued. We voted against Mrieħel and against Townsquare through our representative on the planning authority Ryan Callus and through the PN-led majority in [the] Sliema local council. So we were against… Townsquare isn’t something that came out of the blue now. It had been pending for years and the PN government never gave the permit. This is the bottom line.

Your same representative on the PA board voted in favour of Townsquare in the past. With fewer floors, but…

The permit granted was for 38 floors and Ryan voted against. The reason why he did is not because we’re against high rise buildings in principle but because he felt the project was excessive. Under a PN government no permit was issued even when the application was for 22 floors.

This isn’t a white or black situation. This isn’t [about being] in favour or against high rise buildings. This is about what makes sense; what’s sustainable.

We live in a society where it’s very hard to get a group of people to oppose big business. In the Żonqor case, you supported the stand by civil society. This is perhaps the disappointment with Townsquare…

When we organised the national protest against corruption, there were some who said we should have let civil society express its concerns and taken a back seat. When we let civil society take the lead as we did on Townsquare, there were some who said we should have mobilised people. So in politics, I guess, you can never get it right.

I’m not here to be more of the same, both in terms of the old PN administration and still less in terms of the current government

The case of the Institute of Tourism Studies is another that reeks of a pre-electoral deal [with the Seabank group]. Again, the PN’s position was weak despite suspicion of corruption. Why?

You have to take a studied and principled approach. I’m not here to condemn anything or anyone until I know all the facts. When the ITS project came along, I expressed huge doubts on whether the public land to be given has been valued well… I added another point: access to foreshore, which seems to have been resolved.  I’m still of the same view. If I’m not convinced, I won’t give my support to this project.

Isn’t it of concern that floors are being sold, making it seem like a done deal?

Yes, of course I think it’s a little bit rushed to do that and I really hope the matter can be clarified by the government, making sure that the valuation is a real one. We were told that an independent valuation of the public land involved will be made. I await the conclusion and we’ll take it from there.

Before the election you had said a Labour government would need a bail out if it stuck to its electoral promises. Now there’s no denying the economy is doing well. How do you explain the government’s economic success?

I’m happy that we continue to register good economic growth. We contributed to this. We left a country in very good shape and, to its credit, Labour continued on the same economic path. I acknowledge that. Am I fully convinced of our economic performance? No.

I’m concerned that while the economy grows, the benefits of our success aren’t being shared among all members of society. We have an inner group of people very close to Castille who are becoming quick millionaires, but we have swathes of the people who are still unable to make ends meet with their salary or pension. I want an economy for the people. It’s no use having a successful economy unless the benefits are distributed in a just manner.

People are facing difficult situations. For example, cancer patients are made to beg with the Malta Community Chest Fund for treatment. That is a huge disrespect and an affront to their dignity… This is unacceptable if we’re living in a truly affluent country.

Would you continue on the same track in terms of the generation of economic wealth?

The government didn’t invest sufficiently in creating new economic niches like we used to do with aviation, gaming, financial services and pharmaceuticals.

I’d focus on new sectors, for example turning our country into a new sector for logistics and distribution as well as a centre for financial technology. All these are innovative ideas that could easily have been applied by a Labour government. Instead, it went for the low-hanging fruit.

I’m also concerned about the heavy accent on construction. I believe in sustainable growth. If you grow at a rate you can’t sustain, or if you grow in a manner that has repercussions on the quality of life of people because of environmental degradation, then it’s not sustainable. I combine the economy and the environment – I don’t see them as forces acting against each other.

Reacting to the planning authority’s decision to postpone the revocation of fish farm permits last week, you said “fair enough”. How do you explain that?

I’m as angry as the people at what happened this summer. It was unacceptable. Operators have to either respect high environmental standards and relocate away from the coast or else it’s the end of them.

Nothing was done in three and a half years, suddenly the government wants to solve it in one day. Politics isn’t about theatrics…The Prime Minister said he was very disappointed. Who does he think he’s fooling, when the PA does his bidding?

So the industry’s contribution to the economy is being given priority…

It was the PN government that tried hard to relocate them but there was a great deal of resistance on their part, by the then leader of the Opposition who is today Prime Minister.

We are the party that invested so much in clean seas. How can we be in favour of polluting it?

If the operators don’t convince that they’ll meet the proper standards, then I’ll be the first – through our representative Ryan Callus – to vote for the revocation of their permit.

EU Presidency: ‘Ditch Mizzi and Schembri’

The Opposition leader appealed to the Prime Minister not to take on the EU Presidency with Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri in his office, in order to protect the country’s reputation.

“That would be hugely embarrassing for our country… The name of our country has been hugely tarnished by scandals such as Panama and medical visas.

“These are being discussed in Brussels constantly. Even last week, where we had the second candidate for the post at the European Court of Auditors,” he said.

He said that the parties have no differences on the agenda Malta is pushing forward for the presidency but hopes enough preparation has been made over the past three years for what will be an important six months for the country. “We’re in the spotlight. We need to make the best of it,” Dr Busuttil said.

The IIP scheme: ‘I’m not happy to see people selling it’

Dr Busuttil remains strongly opposed to the scheme created by the Labour government to sell Maltese passports. He says he wouldn’t be pleased to see people involved with the party selling the scheme.

Yet, he also says there’s a great deal of misinformation on party members allegedly involved in selling the Individual Investor Programme, as the scheme is called.

“Names have been mentioned but essentially these people aren’t doing it themselves. They’re part of firms that employ a lot of other people and you can hardly ask those other people to refrain from doing something which is today part of our legal system, whether we like it or not. We’re in Opposition and we can’t do much to change a scheme that’s in place. But I’ll not mince my words: I don’t like the scheme so I wouldn’t be happy to see people selling it,” he said.

A PN government would review the scheme. “In the spirit of good governance, we’ll take stock of how it has panned out and review it… I remain against it, but I’m pragmatic. I know that similar schemes such as the award of residence permit, if not citizenship, are good schemes that should continue to be encouraged. It’s the lack of a principled approach that gets to me. That’s what I want to change”.