Watch: Alex Borg confident he can win election in less than a year

Alex Borg says he is confident of clinching victory at the general election within a year and believes he could make “huge inroads” in just his first month as leader.

The 30-year-old who just became the youngest political party leader in history told Times Talk his plan is to target the vote of young people and the tens of thousands who feel disenfranchised by politics.

If the party plays its cards right and uses social media to its advantage, it could make significant inroads, he said during a podcast to be released on Sunday.

Borg was pressed on whether he truly stands by his campaign pledge that he could win the general election whenever it is called. Asked whether he believes he had what it takes to beat Robert Abela if the election came in a year, he replied: “Even less”.

And he is confident the dream is within reach.

“Nothing is impossible. There are impossible obstacles to overcome, but the current political spectrum is not one of them,” he said.

“I believe the generational change I’m bringing to the party could win us the election. The reality is that young people aged 16 to 30 don’t relate to politics. Through this generational change, we must show them there is hope for the future – that there’s a party that’s safeguarding their rights.”

Pushed on whether he believes he could achieve that before the next election in, say, a year, he replied: “Even in a month. If we truly do politics in good faith and address their needs, we can convince them even in a month.”

“If we address issues well, we can make great inroads. Young people lost all faith in politics,” said the new PN leader, days after narrowly defeating Adrian Delia in the leadership race.

The young lawyer said that if the party uses social media well and gets the message across to everyone and addresses the greatest “pains” out there, it can make huge inroads and start convincing people.

“Almost 100,000 people don’t vote. Imagine convincing just 30 per cent of those. Just imagine the impact. It’s not as hard as you think to sway them towards you if you truly show them you have the best interests of the country at heart.”

During the interview, Borg also fielded questions on his campaign funding, on the perception that he is close to big business, and on which parts of the government’s planning reform he plans to oppose when parliament is back in session later this month.

He also spoke of what he plans to do if elected to government and when he plans to publish the party’s long-shrouded accounts.

The full interview will be published on Sunday.