The Forza Nazzjonali coalition would persist even after the election, Simon Busuttil said this morning. 

The coalition showed the PN was humble enough to realise it had faced a major challenge in fighting corruption, he said, and it needed everybody's help, even those who were not Nationalist.

"The coalition was a break from the past. The PN wanted to show that it should not be a case of winner takes all, and there should be consensus and compromise," he said during an interview on Net TV.

The Nationalist Party leader said the electoral campaign was a roller coaster, but he had enjoyed every minute of it.

He said that while at the beginning of the year he had put everyone on alert for the election, the announcement on May 1 was still a surprise.

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He said the theme 'I choose Malta' had reflected a sentiment already felt by the people, which was why it was so well received. 

It was a cause which was bigger than any political party, because the people were being asked to declare what they stood for, he said. 

Dr Busuttil insisted that the principle overriding the election is whether people want to stop corruption.

Nonetheless, he was proud of the proposals made in the PN's electoral programmes which showed what the people could expect under a PN government.

"My word is my bond," Dr Busuttil said.

Retaining what is doing well

He said a new government would not turn everything upside down. The good that had been done under Labour would be retained and developed but what was wrong would be stopped and changed. 

One could not have more of the same, whether it was under Labour or even under the former PN government. 

Dr Busuttil said it would be 'impossible' for Joseph Muscat to stay on as prime minister if he was re-elected and a magistrate then decided that his 'best friend' Keith Schembri had to face criminal proceedings. 

He said he was confident, on the basis of the evidence he had presented, that Mr Schembri would be taken to court, and Dr Muscat, who had shown confidence in him, therefore had to go. 

Asked about Air Malta, Dr Busuttil said there was no doubt that Malta needed to have a national airline, however important other airlines were.

The country could not rely on private airlines. Connectivity could only be assured with a national flag-carrier, which, however, had to be competitive and give its workers a good future. 

A new government, he said, would fight Air Malta's corner in Brussels, arguing that a tiny island state could not do without its national airline. 

The economy

Dr Busuttil said the economy would continue to prosper under a new government. The PN government had successfully steered the economy despite a huge international crisis prior to 2013, and one could, therefore, imagine how successful it would be when conditions were much better. 

A new government would also further diversify the economy, by venturing in, for example, the creative media and fintech.  

Legacy

Dr Busuttil said Dr Muscat's legacy would be spin, fake news, propaganda and manipulation, such as the way how taxpayers' money was being used for Labour propaganda.

The government, he said, had lost its sense of shame, and decency, therefore, needed to be restored.