‘I had to stand up and be counted’ – PN candidate Ivan Bartolo

“Freedom of speech is very important to me, and after what has happened over the last few weeks I felt I had to stand up and be counted,” Ivan Bartolo, PN candidate and founder of software company 6PM, told The Malta Independent on Sunday yesterday.

Mr Bartolo, who spoke before party leader Simon Busuttil in the national stronghold of Sliema last Sunday, is certainly an untraditional candidate who is representative of the changing face of the Nationalist Party.

He was an outspoken critic of the current administration’s IIP cash-for-passports scheme, especially when it was revealed that a number of PN officials and Members of Parliament were involved with firms that facilitated the selling of passports.

Mr Bartolo had taken to Facebook, saying: “If this is case, I officially give up on politicians and on politics. Feeling devastated.”

When asked yesterday if his position had changed since then, Mr Bartolo said that he has already spoken about the issue to the people concerned, namely PN President Ann Fenech, who told him that she had distanced herself from the practice, although he maintains that “I would still have my own views on that, but that is me being extremely honest.”

Mr Bartolo then explained that, while he has been considering contesting in a general election for the last four years, it was only in recent weeks that he felt the final push and decided to run.

Pointing towards the Media and Defamation Act recently announced by the government, which proposes the establishment of a Media Registrar that would include a registry of news websites, Mr Bartolo said: “Freedom of speech is very important to me, and after what has happened over the last few weeks, I felt I had to stand up and be counted.”

Mr Bartolo, who has 30 years of experience within the technology industry as the founder and CEO of 6PM, says he believes that the country should be doing everything it can to move towards an electronic democracy.

This, he explains, will seek to empower the people rather than the opposite, as is being is suggested in the proposed legislation.

“The principles of agile software development are based on involvement and empowerment. If we want to break the establishment, we need to use technologies to create better platforms where the people are involved in the decision-making process,” he said.

He clarified that this does not seek to undermine the power of Parliament but, rather, is intended to provide MPs with the knowledge of what their constituents actually feel.

The entrepreneur strongly believes in the capabilities of young people, which he says are reflective of the youth-oriented industry in which he works. Young people, he says, need to begin to think of themselves not only within a Maltese context but also in relation to their position in the international landscape.

“The truth is that I was a boy who dreamed and accomplished, and I want to provide people with the same opportunities, to allow them to dream and deliver.”

This, he explains, will allow people to hold government officials accountable for their actions more easily.

Mr Bartolo has links with Zaren Vassallo – a prominent businessman and PN donor who was recently at the centre of allegations made in respect of PN MP Jason Azzopardi over the sale of the Lowenbrau property in Qormi.

When asked whether this had presented any difficulties, Mr Bartolo said: “I always like to be honest and open. 6PM became a public limited company in 2007, which meant that anyone could buy shares in the company. When we proceeded with a new strategy of becoming a productbased company in 2011, there was a public offering of shares. The Vassallo Group invested €1 million in shares. In real terms I have no right to say yes or no to who is buying the shares.

“However, I will always say that in Mr Vassallo’s capacity as the chairman of 6PM for the last five years, it was a pleasure working with him. I learned a lot, and he is certainly a capable individual who puts his money where his mouth is and takes risks.”

On the issue of corruption, Mr Bartolo did admit that it may not be possible to completely eradicate corruption, but he is convinced of PN leader Simon Busuttil’s intention to rid the country of it.

“I won’t be arrogant and say that Dr Busuttil will be 100 per cent successful, but I believe that he is determined to do so and will fire people who are caught in corruption” he said.

“To think that he left a comfortable respectable job in the EU to do the best for his country, I definitely find solidarity with him in that, as I left my job in order to stand up and be counted.”

His unconventional style has similarities to outspoken PN candidate Salvu Mallia, but Mr Bartolo is “convinced that we are pretty different”.

“We’re different ages, with a different pain, a different background and a different story. I’m not in a position to judge anyone; if the PN feel that he is a valuable individual to the cause, who am I to say otherwise?”