The people’s voice will, more than ever, be at the heart of the Nationalist Party through two initiatives aimed at encouraging the public to share their worries and concerns, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi pledged yesterday.

...a Prime Minister... also needs to show he understands the impact of the increased price of a gas cylinder on families in the cold winter

Dr Gonzi appointed Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil as his special delegate to immediately start organising structured meetings with people from different social and economic sectors.

The meetings will be organised through the PN think-tank AŻAD, the academy for the development of a democratic environment.

Through the second initiative, regular meeting between ministers, parliamentary secretaries, MPs and PN candidates will be scheduled by party general secretary Paul Borg Olivier.

“We will be, more than ever, the government of the people... Everyone can find a natural place in this party,” Dr Gonzi said.

“I am committed to doubling our efforts to match people’s expectations and will work towards this with more energy and enthusiasm... We will continue realising our electoral ­promises... and will focus on our largest project, the Maltese and Gozitan population,” he said.

Dr Gonzi was speaking during a special meeting of the PN general council the morning after he won 96.5 per cent of the vote in a party leadership ­contest in which he was the only candidate.

The election was prompted after Nationalist MP Franco Debono abstained in a parliamentary vote on a no-confidence motion presented by the opposition last month. The motion was defeated with the Speaker’s casting vote.

Dr Gonzi said that Saturday’s vote showed he had the trust of the party but he now had to work hard to gain the trust of the people.

“The message that comes out of this experience is not one of statistics and numbers... It helped me better understand what is going on in our families and this is an important experience for politicians as it brings you close to daily realities. I don’t want this experience to be lost, as though nothing happened,” he said.

Over the past four weeks, he visited the homes of various families and had rediscovered the importance of remaining close to the people.

“It’s not enough to be the head of government... you have to be the head of a government that is close to the people at all times. It’s good that a Prime Minister meets heads of state and talks about deficit control but he also needs to show he understands the impact of the increased price of a gas cylinder on families in the cold winter,” he said.

Since he became Prime Minister, eight years ago, he had to carry big responsibilities and his attention was often focused on the bigger picture.

“It is our duty to get the big picture right but we have to be careful... maybe it was good and necessary to go through this experience.

“The message was clear. Do not detach yourself from the people. The big picture is nice but it’s made of small mosaic pieces that are our families,” he said.