Bernard Grech on Thursday said the PN's proposal of suspended traffic conventions would drive down the sense of impunity among law-abiding motorists.
The PN has promised to introduce a system that will give a second chance to motorists who get a traffic fine. The contravention would be "suspended" for six months, and the fine would drop if the contravener does not relapse.
On Thursday, when challenged on whether he thinks the proposal would increase anarchy on Maltese roads and bolster the "couldn't care less" attitude among motorists, Grech said the scheme would do the opposite.
He insisted that the initiative was of the positive reinforcement kind, and it would drive down the sense of impunity among law-abiding citizens.
“The u iva mhux xorta (couldn't care less) is exactly what we don’t want. If one parks incorrectly once and repeats the contravention the following day, taking the ‘u iva mhux xorta’ attitude, they will end up paying that traffic fine.
“However, law-abiding citizens fined for parking incorrectly while buying something, or while unloading a pushchair from a car, would feel incentivised not to repeat the unintentional mistake.
“But if one repeats this [mistake] often, they would have to pay all the fines as it means they are unwilling to learn and do not have a sense of civic duty.”
Grech pledged a PN government would launch an afforestation scheme that the country has never seen before, with several green spaces in each locality.
The PN is due to hold its general council on Thursday evening.