PN leader expects party reform to be finalised by end of March

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia expects the party reform initiated in June to be finalised by the end of March, three months earlier than anticipated.

Speaking on the party’s radio station, Delia said that he had appointed veteran politician Louis Galea last June to work on the party’s reform with the understanding that it needed to be completed within a year.

Over the past few months, he said, Galea had held dozens of meetings with the party structures, individuals and members of the public, and the time had come for the second phase of the reform to take place, that is, going through all the proposals received to give the party a new image.

Delia said that the reform would not only concern the way the party was structured, but also its policies. “It does not necessarily mean that policies which the PN has endorsed over many years will be changed; what will change is the way the party’s message is communicated,” he said.

“Gone are the days when society took years to change; in the era we are living in, change is taking place very quickly and the party must be ready for the challenge.”

He said the government’s model might be good in the short-term – and during this short term, many people close to the government were reaping the fruit of good positions with hefty salaries – but in the longterm there would be consequences.

He mentioned the deal reached by the government on three state hospitals – St Luke’s,

Karin Grech and Gozo General – which, he said, was not serving the country well. “Prime Minister Muscat boasted that Steward had invested €36 million in the last three years, but he forgot that over the past three years the government has given Steward €150 million.”

Delia said that the cost of running the three hospitals before 2013 had hovered between €20 and €30 million, but that figure was now between €80 and €90 million, with no evident improvement in the services provided or the facilities and equipment used. “So where is the money going?” Delia asked.

He criticised the Planning Authority’s decision to grant a permit for the construction of a villa in Qala on what is rural land in an Outside Development Zone. He said that many NGOs and Labour exponents, along with the PN, had objected to the project, but those responsible had not spoken out.

He said the Labour representative on the PA board had failed to explain his decision. The Prime Minister Muscat, Environment Minister Jose Herrera and Finance Minister Edward Scicluna – who had boasted about presenting a green budget – had also remained silent, as has the Planning Authority. “We need answers,” Delia said.