PN kicks off two-day national convention
Six themes to guide discussions as Borg urges party to act with courage
The Nationalist Party must prove it is a “government in waiting”, Opposition leader Alex Borg told Nationalist Party members at the start of a two-day national convention the party is organising.
Addressing party members at the Excelsior Hotel this Saturday morning, Borg said the convention was designed to shape the PN’s policy direction for the future by directly listening to the people.
“After 10 years we need to show that we are a government in waiting, prepared to move Malta forward,” said the Opposition leader.
He said the convention is not an exercise in political rhetoric, but a serious process of listening, discussion and collective building involving individuals, communities, businesses, voluntary organisations and trade unions.
The convention was an opportunity for people to have their say about the PN and its vision for Malta, he said.
He added that the convention would help shape the party’s policy framework for Malta’s future and guide its electoral programme. While acknowledging there might be “big challenges “ facing the country, he encouraged attendees to think and act with courage.
George Vital Zammit, chairperson of the convention and the person tasked with drawing up the PN’s electoral programme, also urged participants to approach the event with courage and to view it as a “laboratory for imagination”.
Zammit also warned that if the party stops listening, it will not be able to evolve and will just become an echo of itself.
Six themes
Mark Anthony Sammut, president of the PN’s General Council, said discussions would centre on six themes to be explored in workshop groups led by facilitators and rapporteurs.
The themes are: Malta as we know it – a Malta where quality of life matters; Prosperity that truly reaches everyone; Strong communities; A government that looks after you; A Malta ready for tomorrow; and Gozo at the heart of the national vision.
The first five themes were scheduled to be discussed on Saturday morning, while the final theme will be addressed at the Kempinski Hotel in Gozo on Saturday evening.
Rapporteurs will present the conclusions on Sunday, before a panel debate hosted by Matthew Xuereb, editor of Newsbook and RTK.
The convention will also feature international speakers, including European People’s Party Secretary General Dolors Montserrat, a former minister in Spain, and Mikuláš Dzurinda, former Slovak prime minister and president of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.