The Nationalist Party has a new president after councillors yesterday elected Paula Mifsud Bonnici, the first woman to occupy the party's top post.
She won 66.4 per cent of the vote beating the only other contestant, Lija mayor Ian Castaldi Paris who got 33.6 per cent of the vote.
From 871 eligible councillors, 761 cast their vote. There were eight invalid votes. Dr Mifsud Bonnici got 500 votes and Dr Castaldi Paris garnered 253 votes.
In her first reaction, an emotional Dr Mifsud Bonnici said her priority was to be close to the party's grassroots, insisting she was ready to work hand in hand with the leader and the general secretary.
She also denied Labour Party media reports that her candidature was a challenge to the party's establishment, which was said to be favouring her opponent.
The post of general council president was vacated in July when Victor Scerri resigned after being embroiled in controversy over the construction of a farmhouse in Baħrija. He had resigned to defend his case as a private citizen, not to drag the party into the controversy.
Dr Scerri was one of the first people yesterday to embrace the new president wishing her luck in her new job.
Meanwhile, when closing the session, deputy leader Tonio Borg thanked Dr Scerri for his service and described him a "soldier of steel", borrowing Dom Mintoff's description of Labour voters during the 1960s. Apart from the customary self-gratification over what most described as a good Budget, speaker after speaker emphasised the party's social conscience and its success in creating jobs.
Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici went as far as describing the PN as a progressive party that brought about change and MEP David Casa insisted the PN was the workers' party.
It was only MP Jean Pierre Farrugia who reserved some words of criticism over some of the Budget measures, insisting they did not go far enough to ensure equity in society. He questioned the suitability of the one-off energy allowance for families with children adding that €130 for a family of four was not enough.
Referring to Don Luigi Sturzo, the founder of Italian Christian Democracy, Dr Farrugia stressed the importance of the PN's Christian Democratic roots and asked whether they were as strong as they should be.
He questioned whether the extra €3 million for the inclusion of new medicines was enough, given that the government would continue to finance medicines for those who could afford them.
Dr Borg picked up on Dr Farrugia's intervention and reiterated the PN was a Christian Democratic party and so rejected the liberal economic model that ignored social justice.
He welcomed the reference to Don Luigi Sturzo and said the Budget did reflect the Christian Democratic principles even if conditioned by the prevailing circumstances.
"If we had a good Budget at a time of crisis; just imagine what we would be doing in the years to come when we come out of the crisis," Dr Borg said.
Addressing councillors at the start of the general council, which ends on Sunday, general secretary Paul Borg Olivier said the party would be discussing five policy areas: work, environment, education, health and consumer protection.
The general council will today split up into five work-shops, each tackling the individual policies. It comes to a close tomorrow with a speech by Dr Gonzi.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com