Alex Borg takes the PN's campaign push to the 7th district
No mention of manifesto cost during speech
The Nationalist Party did everything it could during the election campaign, and all that remains is getting people to the polls, PN leader Alex Borg told supporters on Monday.
Speaking at a meet-the-candidate event in Rabat, Borg said the PN led a positive campaign over the past month.
He said the PN’s priority if elected government will be to improve well-being and make people’s lives better, not by making them depend on government schemes or benefits but by allowing people to live a good life on their own terms.
He listed a number of electoral pledges including: removing succession tax, increasing VAT exemptions for the self-employed, and creating economic niches that will provide the country with new revenue streams.
Borg said the PN has a clear commitment to build three new hospitals and create a health village. On the energy side, he said a PN government would cut utility bills from January.
He said the PN will still reward those who wish to work more and earn more money by offering advantageous tax rates on overtime and part-time work.
He said the economy has grown over the years, but vital infrastructure had not caught up with the population increases that drove the same economic growth.
The PN, he said, has a realistic plan to tackle traffic, which involves short- and long-term measures. One of the short-term measures is a mileage-linked road licence scheme, with reduced licence fees on cars driven 5,000km or less annually.
Borg then referred to the PN’s mass transit proposal, which, he said, would result in an 11.5km underground metro between Luqa and Pembroke.
People, he said, resort to car use because there is no other option. By building an underground metro, people will have an alternative to their car for reaching certain places.
He also said that his future finance minister, which would be Adrian Delia if elected into government, has already agreed to sign off on the metro plan. This was unlike the Labour government’s finance minister, Clyde Caruana, who had said that he would not sign off on a mass transport system if the numbers didn’t make sense.
During the event, Borg did not reveal how much all of the campaign's proposals will cost altogether. Earlier in the day, Borg suggested the full cost of the party's manifesto would be revealed in the evening.
Borg concluded his speech with a message to continue reaching out to people and to go out and vote.
At the event, PN candidates from the 7th district also made short speeches.
The candidates include Andrew Agius, Charles Azzopardi, Rebekah Borg, Adrian Delia, Paul Mazzola, Anton Mifsud and Ian Vassallo Hagi.