[attach id=266229 size="medium"]PN general secretary Chris Said.[/attach]
The Nationalist Party will soon be implementing recommendations made by a commission that looked into its financial problems, hoping to have its “house in order” by the end of summer, according to general secretary Chris Said.
The commission, set up by Simon Busuttil shortly after being elected party leader, was headed by the PN’s new treasurer and former leadership contender Raymond Bugeja, a successful businessman.
Speaking on the party’s radio station, Dr Said explained that the report was completed recently and was submitted to the party leadership last week.
“This report took a snapshot of the situation and made recommendations on what can be done and these will be implemented,” he said, stopping short from divulging any details. The recommendations will not be made public.
He said the PN still intended to give an account of its spending during the electoral campaign. It would publish a proper account and not one of the sort presented by the Labour Party, which no one had believed, he added.
Dr Said noted the party was facing a time of renewal, admitting that the challenges he faced in his first month on the job were more challenging than those he had faced when he was Justice Minister.
“The PN suffered the biggest electoral defeat since Independence, so it has political challenges. There are also the financial problems that are being addressed.
“It’s simple: the PN has to change or be damned. This is the process of renewal that we have embarked on,” he said when asked whether the party was anywhere closer to winning back disgruntled voters.
Asked about the party’s clubs, Dr Said explained that the party would be working on recommendations so that the property, most of it in village cores, would offer some “financial return”.
“In the next few weeks, certain decisions will be taken so that, by the end of summer, our house will be in order. There are issues that have to be addressed. We are in the process of revising our 40-year-old statute too,” he said.