PN gearing up for elections

● Opposition training modules to ‘build positive perception of the party’

In a letter sent by the PN’s Secretary General Rosette Thake, party representatives are being asked to attend training modules organised by the PN’s political academy AZAD with the aim of enriching the knowledge base of future and present candidates and party representatives.

While AZAD has been revamped and very active in promoting the party’s values among prospective candidates since Simon Busuttil took the party’s leadership in 2013, this is the first concrete effort by the PN to shape up its public figures to be able to present themselves to the public in sync with what the PN stands for.

The PN under Lawrence Gonzi had been strongly criticised for lack of direction within the parliamentary group and with its sections. Voters felt alienated by Members of Parliament and party officials who went astray promoting their agenda, which at the time went diametrically opposite to the views held by the party or vice versa. This led to embarrassing situations brought about by a oneseat majority which gave way to public dissent by a handful of rebel back-benchers who claimed to be representing their constituents in clear conflict of the PN’s policies.

On becoming PN leader, Simon Busuttil commissioned a task force, led by former Foreign Minister and EU Commissioner Joe Borg, to evaluate all prospective candidates. It now seems that the project has gone another step further. Through AZAD the PN will be giving proper training to its candidates to be conversant with PN’s policy, values and its history.

But for AZAD’s chairman, Dr David Grixti, the training modules also have another objective. In an email circulated to party officials to promote the courses, he tells recipients, “Training, for the PN is awfully important because the party needs to be sure that it is being represented in a professional manner and by professional people.” He claims that in today’s politics perception plays a major role, “so professional training is the tool with which the party and its representatives may build the best possible perception”.

The PN’s representatives are being asked to attend short modules regarding the history of the PN, values of the PN and their relevance today, the art of public speaking, interaction and psychology in public life, skills and management of door to door campaigning, administrative/organisational skills in campaigning, The use of social media, accessing main messages of the day and keeping abreast, existing policies of the PN (various), data protection and privacy issues in politics, leadership skills, Maltese political history, electoral and media law.

Participants will also be trained on debate skills precisely to learn ‘how to set the agenda and stick to the core message while avoiding media entrapment and turning negative questions into an opportunity,’ claims the brochure circulated among party representatives.

Sources within the PN told this newsroom that interest in the party to participate and sit for the modules is high, indicative that the PN is gearing up for the general election which could at best be called towards the end of 2017 once Malta’s EU Presidency turn is up and before Valletta takes on the City of Culture status in 2018.