An upbeat Opposition leader yesterday described 2014 as the year in which the Nationalist Party started to regain its credibility and rose to the challenges, to the point that the government was forced to change its course of action on various aspects.
“The introduction of the residency clause in the citizenship scheme, the government’s U-turn on its plans to cancel next year’s local council elections and the resignation of Manuel Mallia as home affairs minister are just a few examples,” Dr Busuttil said.
Speaking during a news conference at the party headquarters, the PN leader gave his personal assessment on the performance of his own party and that of the government, in the past 12 months.
Our target has to be realistic, and we do not expect to win any majorities in Labour strongholds
Touching on Malta’s economic performance, he said in spite of the growth registered, there were a number of negative indicators such as the decline in exports, imports, industrial production and the business slowdown. He added that in the absence of any change in direction by the government, Malta would end up asking for a bailout from the EU.
Turning his attention to the PN’s performance he said efforts to regenerate the party were achieving the desired results. Nevertheless, Dr Busuttil acknowledged that last May’s “disappointing” performance in the European Parliament election forced him to go back to the drawing board.
“This meant we came up with fresh plans on how to regenerate the party by implementing the changes in the statute and setting up new structures, such as the policy fora,” the Opposition leader said.
While acknowledging that the PN was not yet in a position to challenge the party in government, he pointed out that the aim was to regain lost ground by the end of this legislature in three years time.
Meanwhile, the next electoral test will be the local council election scheduled for the first half of next year, when half the electorate will be called to elect their local government.
“Our target has to be realistic, and we do not expect to win any majorities in Labour strongholds,” the Opposition leader said when asked about the party’s target.
Dr Busuttil also noted that there had been a significant improvement in the party’s financial situation, thanks to the restructuring process which was carried out in the aftermath of the last general election. He added that the PN was no longer in a situation where its employees were not being paid.
Reacting to Dr Busuttil’s remarks, the Labour Party said the Opposition leader persisted with his negative approach. It also accused him of adopting double standards when faced with allegations involving his own MPs.