PN promises ‘substantially’ extended paternity leave – Grech

The Nationalist Party promises to substantially increase the amount of paternity leave for fathers, PN leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday.

In addressing a live Net TV interview in Gharghur, Grech added that if elected to government he will also increase the amount of tenders for governmental projects, to give everyone an equal chance to access these funds and take part in public projects.

He stated that this would be a move away from the Labour government's current status quo of "continually handing out direct orders to the same few people close to their circle".

During his recap of the recently publicised PN proposals, Grech called out Prime Minister Robert Abela for damaging the relationship of Malta's SMEs and causing a rift among the industry by investigating them and suspecting them as "criminals and thieves", as though they are the reason for Malta having been added to the grey list.

He remarked how the PL is using SMEs as a scapegoat to hide away from investigating those rich people the Labour government is involved with. He stated that those who have exorbitant salaries are the ones who should be, and will be, investigated under a PN government.

"Unlike the PL we trust and believe that our SMEs work and invest legally and sacrifice a lot of time and money. We want to encourage more of this," said Grech.

He said that this, along with other PN policies recently pledged namely increasing the salary for education sector employees, enabling farmers to buy their own land and increasing the VAT-exempt ceiling to €60,000, among others, ring home the PN's mission at the "centre of [its] politics" to put those individuals striving to do their part to better their country as top priority.

In enabling local farmers to purchase their own land, Grech spoke of the dire need – as was highlighted during the onset of the Covid pandemic, when importation and exportation was further challenged – to promote and ensure the sustainability of local produce, which as he noted would contrast the PL "who are continuously taking more and more land away from agriculture".

Grech further noted the importance of increasing alliances with European health systems in order to provide the best care to Maltese citizens, especially in their fight to combat cancer.

"There is no price for the life of individuals," he said.

Grech concluded by saying that every Maltese and Gozitan has an obligation to move the country forward and that each one must feel responsible to do their part. He noted how the PN are working hard to make everyone feel comfortable to approach the PN so as to enact change side by side.

"The fight is not blue or red but for our national flag," he said.