PN leader Bernard Grech on Sunday hailed progress made by his party, according to opinion polls, even though it continues to trail Labour by some 18,000 votes.
“The surveys are showing that the PN is at a disadvantage, that the PN is the underdog... but we remain tenacious, we don’t give up, as we believe that this country needs change,” Grech said during an interview hosted by the Nationalist Party.
Last week, a Times of Malta poll showed that the Labour Party was leading by 18,700 votes.
Grech emphasized that this was a marked improvement for the PN compared to the last general election (where the PL had almost 40,000 votes more than the PN). And he pointed out that polls last June had projected a 30,000-vote loss for the PN in the EP elections — a prediction that did not happen.
Grech brushed off his own personal low rating, saying that the focus should not be on him but on the people’s needs.
He added that the PN are working hard to cater for people’s needs.
Grech was also asked whether he could see a situation where he would be competing with Roberta Metsola to be the leader of the party, since the polls showed that she was the preferred party leader.
He reiterated that he was not interested in himself, but he was pushing everyone within the party forward.
When asked about 'financial irregularities' by the PN, he acknowledged that the PN was facing financial issues but said that the PL were facing the same issues, if not bigger.
Labour pundit Karl Stagno Navarra said last week that he had asked the courts to investigate Grech and the PN for a range of alleged financial irregularities dating back years. The allegations range from the party having failed to pay stamp duty for its workers to questions concerning the way in which Grech settled a €60,000 tax debt.
Grech argued that, unlike the PL, the PN was honest and admitted its shortcomings, and it intended to fix them.
The Opposition leader was also pressed on whether the party would change its pro-life position on abortion to appeal to a younger generation. Grech answered that "PN is not ready to make a compromise on life".