The Nationalist Party will today start work on identifying new candidates for the 2018 general elections and the upcoming local council elections, party leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday.
He said that today he would be meeting the head of the PN’s candidates’ commission, Joe Borg, to discuss the matter.
Dr Busuttil was speaking during a Nationalist Party activity in Santa Venera, where he shared reflections on the results of last week’s MEP elections.
The PN needs people who can stand up again, run, overtake other athletes and win the race
He spoke about the two sets of results: the one based on votes where the Labour Party won some 33,600 votes more than the PN, and the result based on seats where the PN managed to have three MEPs elected to its previous two.
The number of votes was “disappointing” and the people sent a clear message that the PN needed to keep changing, he said.
The party had to continue building on the foundations laid last year that included the new leadership, radical changes in the party statute, and measures taken to address the financial situation. He stressed that the PN had to work on the way it communicated its message to the people. It must make sure its message was relevant to what people needed for their future.
While the PN had achieved a lot for the country in the past, and should be proud, it could not rely on its past glories.
It needed “the best people today” and they would be given space to work within the PN.
“The PN needs people who can stand up again, run, overtake other athletes and win the race,” he said.
In order to achieve this, he admitted, difficult decisions had to be taken and sacrifices made. But t could be done with determination and by pulling the same rope: “The party can stand up again, start running and win the race.”
Dr Busuttil also said the PN was encouraged by the fact that it managed to achieve its goal of winning the third seat.
He thanked all the candidates who had dedicated so much time and energy to the party, then turned to praise the elected members.
He said he had picked MEP David Casa to head the PN delegation because he was the Maltese MEP with the most experience in the European Parliament.
Mr Casa now had responsibility for a three-seat delegation.
He congratulated MEP Roberta Metsola who garnered the most first-count votes on the PN ticket, just four thousand short of the 36,000 quota.
He also congratulated newcomer Therese Comodini Cachia for winning the third seat and said she was well-suited for politics because she was calm and intelligent and a professional person of integrity.
He extended his support to the three PL MEPs and called on all six MEPs to help spread the “politics of unity” they would be experiencing in Brussels to the Maltese scenario.
“This country does not need confrontation, but unity,” he said.