True blue and optimistic

Nationalist Party general secretary Joe Saliba is an optimistic man. He believes his party would soon recover from the blow dealt in the European elections and in the process overcome the mood of "national moaning" which has afflicted the country. In an interview with Herman Grech, he also speaks about the party's finances and gives his reasons as to why the PN can win the next election.

As general secretary of the PN, you are a jack-of-all-trades. Apart from steering the party politically, you are also responsible for its administrative and commercial entities. Don't you think you have too many things on your plate?

Our party's statute says that a general secretary assumes the role of chairman of the party's companies, irrespective of whether he has any knowledge of commercial and administrative issues. However, normally, the delegates try and select a general secretary who possesses all three qualities.

Yes, I agree a PN general secretary has a lot on his plate but the most important thing is to delegate. This is why there are a lot of managers that are responsible for their areas.

Politics is a full-time job especially when the party is in government. I work from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. I believe the PN should separate the political role from the commercial role and, in fact, a number of changes will be announced next month.

Such as...

There will be administrative changes in our commercial entities, as well as in our newspaper and television. New roles and policies, which have been mapped out this summer, will come into effect.

For example, the appointment of a general manager for one of the party's commercial entities would offload some of the work of the general secretary who, in turn, may concentrate on the political role. However, because of the statute, I will still assume the role of chairman.

There have been media reports claiming that the party's finances are in dire straits. Truth or fiction?

L-orizzont has claimed that the companies pertaining to the PN were Lm4 million in the red and I can confirm that when I assumed this role that figure was correct. Today, we've whittled that figure of debt down to Lm2.8 million and in the process I've built new premises for the party. We also have to keep in mind that the companies have to shoulder the financial burden of the party. For example, we own the best library in Malta, which however doesn't render any revenue. We also have to fund electoral campaigns, which last year alone cost us Lm800,000. We raise money from the people but it's clearly not sufficient.

Is Net TV rendering anything for the party's coffers?

I can openly say that when it first started transmitting, Net TV was losing Lm1,000 a day. I'm proud to say that today our station breaks even and it's probably the only station in Malta that manages to do so.

Does the party have the money to complete the second phase of the Pietà headquarters?

We have invested Lm1.6 million in the new wing of the headquarters, which will be inaugurated later this year. We raised Lm600,000 and the rest was funded from the party's entities. We need another Lm2 million for the new section and we will complete it the way we managed to complete the first phase.

Do you envisage any delays in its completion?

By January, we will start the second phase, right after the fund-raising marathon. Our targets are that the second phase will be completed by 2006, in time for the general election.

The PN is still reeling from one of its worst ever electoral defeats...

I disagree. The result of the European Parliament elections was a natural one. If we turn the clock back to 2001 and 2002 we had a similar result in the local council elections, when the PN was resoundingly defeated.

At the time, the Labour Party claimed it held the majority of the electorate and challenged the government to hold a snap election. The PN was also being criticised by the media and some were asking whether Joe Saliba was the right man to steer the party through such a crunch electoral period.

We only had 11 months to the test and, directed by Eddie Fenech Adami and Joe Saliba as campaign manager, the PN went on to win the referendum, the local council elections and the general election. The party in government will practically always lose the mid-term elections.

I don't recall the PN admitting defeat in 2001 and 2002.

You are wrong. I clearly remember Austin Gatt, Lawrence Gonzi and myself informing Dr Fenech Adami that we were soundly beaten and that we must say so. The PN is the only party that has acknowledged defeat - in 2001, 2002 and in last June's elections. I have never heard the MLP admit so.

According to you what led to such a disastrous result?

The electorate felt it needed to reprimand us. This is democracy. Our main objective was to secure EU membership and even though the government has been performing in the past years, it also neglected other things.

So when we were re-elected in 2003 the government took the bull by the horns and started tackling hot issues like the drydocks, Public Broadcasting Services and so on. Though people wanted us to tackle these issues, a number of them were directly affected as a result of our actions.

I also believe that, for the first time, the Maltese could freely vote as they pleased without putting the party in government at risk. But it's important to emphasise that our traditional voters switched to Alternattiva and not Labour. I can also tell you that some of Labourites voted PN in June.

How convinced are you that you will entice the lost sheep that voted for AD?

I am convinced that I will do my utmost to lure them back.

Does Alternattiva's performance in June worry you?

Why should I worry that one party obtains more votes than the others? I would worry if the electorate elects a party that turns the clock backwards, as was the case in 1996.

As a result of the MEP elections you set up a commission to analyse what led to the result. You've been criticised for the choice of the people on the commission. Do you honestly believe they have the necessary credentials?

We chose the commission's members based on different criteria. Some know the structures of the PN, others because they possess a journalistic sense and know the pulse of the country and others because they didn't vote for us. The commission has met up with scores of people since its appointment.

But what exactly are you expecting from the report and when is it coming out?

I want another interpretation of the result and see whether it tallies with the one we did. Ideally the report will be out in September.

Many believe the PN is not appealing to the middle classes any more and it seems to be trying to target the working class, which is evidently still a Labour stronghold. In the meantime the middle class seems to be shifting to AD. Doesn't this worry you? Could it be that you are knocking on the wrong door?

We are a popular party - we are there for everybody and that's what has won us elections. There's no logic in the middle class shifting to AD because the Greens' policies are traditionally on the borderline of Socialism. So if this development is happening in Malta, it is very strange. It's illogical!

But this has happened in the MEP elections. Various opinion writers lament that the middle class is suffering the major brunt of the government's fiscal policies.

Has the government introduced any taxes since 2003? No, it hasn't. If the middle class wanted to protest at the government's policies it could have done so earlier. On the other hand, that particular class was wise enough to realise the importance of EU membership. They were not egoistic.

Aren't you concerned that you could have lost a good chunk of those that voted for AD forever?

No. There are patterns and moods. In 1996, we were told that we had lost a section of the middle class to Labour for good. This, of course, wasn't the case.

Are you saying that you will not try and do something to bring back the lost sheep?

Of course not. But let's remember that the PN doesn't hinge solely on the general secretary. We are there to win the coming election.

And what about the working class?

The majority of the Maltese electorate pertains to the working class and if they all held their allegiance to Labour, then we'd never have been elected.

It's rather evident that the issue of EU membership was a godsend for the PN in last year's election. Since that issue is now dead and buried, what differentiates the PN from the MLP?

I don't agree with you that it was a godsend. Turn the clock back to 1998 and our electoral programme promised an EU referendum. We did this because the majority of the Maltese were still not in favour of EU membership.

I can tell you that in 1998, just 44 per cent were in favour of EU membership. Therefore, it wasn't the PN that rode on the EU's bandwagon but rather it was the issue of EU membership that benefited by tagging along to our party.

Now with EU membership settled, there are other issues at stake on an economic and an environment level. Ours is a party that gives maximum priority to the solidarity and social aspects.

These are the same values being promoted by the MLP...

The final goal for both parties has practically always been the same. But what differentiates the PN from the MLP is the way they meet their targets. We're both talking about the economy and the environment. But while the PN has the tools and experience to explain exactly how we plan to meet those targets, the MLP is all talk, never explaining how it will solve problems and generate wealth.

The country has gone back to a period of national moaning and a good section of your own supporters are at the forefront. Could it be that the government is operating without the backbone of a party?

We are normally criticised that the party is interfering too much into the government's affairs. This is what happened when I recently attended the Girgenti meeting (for all government ministers and parliamentary secretaries). I'm surprised by the criticism because the general secretary has always attended non-Cabinet meetings.

The PN government might deserve some criticism but it doesn't deserve condemnation. We have done so much sterling work but it often goes unnoticed. Maybe we're failing to inform people enough about the work the government's doing. For example, it's good to know that it was Lawrence Gonzi who halted the Mnajdra landfill proposal. The government bowed its head to common sense.

Do you believe your media is effective? Several think the message being relayed is no longer subtle and it's increasingly appearing like a party billboard.

It will be a mistake for the PN to try and convince people through its media. People absorb information from different forms of media, often even more so from the independent media.

The PN's media has rendered results as evidenced by the string of electoral victories since 1981. Times have changed. Political programmes are in fact on the decline. Do you know we're actually criticised because there is lack of political content?

To what extent does the PN administration interfere in the journalists' work?

From the political point of view, there is no direct interference but there is a general vision, mapped out during the weekly meetings that we hold with the editors. In fact, I can't give you an answer if you ask me what's appearing in tomorrow's newspaper.

So who, for example, had decided to blatantly ignore a petition against the Mnajdra landfills proposal presented by Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando?

That decision was taken by the newsroom. You should also ask Jeffrey whether he feels comfortable within the PN. I know he will tell you he's comfortable in the party and with Joe Saliba. I have always given him all the space he wanted.

After the resignation of John Dalli from Cabinet allegations have been levelled out that there are cliques operating within the PN headquarters.

The only thing I can't comment about are these claims because we have instituted 12 libel cases against a particular Sunday newspaper in connection with this.

In three-and-a-half years' time, Malta will go back to the polls. Do you believe the PN can claw its way back to government for a third successive term?

Three years ago, all the polls in Germany pointed to a victory for the CDU. But just a week before the election, the tide turned and the Social Democrats won. In Spain, it was a foregone conclusion that the Popular Party would win by an even bigger majority. We all know what happened there on the eve of the election.

In 2002, everything showed that the PN was at its lowest level of popularity. Eleven months later it won two elections. In the next three-and-a-half years we have to transform Malta into a centre of European excellence. And this is what will help the PN win the next election. Still, we intend to work with the grassroots and the electorate. It's also important to explain why the government has to take certain tough decisions.

I'm looking forward to winning the next election. I have broken all election records and as circumstances would have it I'm the only general secretary to have won three elections. I'm convinced the PN is still the best party to lead the country. It's fresh, young and energetic. Our ministers work 16 hours a day.

Perhaps they aren't appreciated enough because the message is not being relayed to the electorate. Perhaps it's time to work less and spend more time with the electorate. Yes, the next election is winnable and we will win it.

But in the short term, the government still has to sort out a few thorny issues, such as pensions, health, finances, and without the issue of EU membership to fall back on. How possible is it to garner support?

On the contrary - it will be these issues that will win us the election. We promised people that we would reform the country's structures and modernise ourselves. If we manage to do that, it will be our trump card.