Bernard Grech has made a heartfelt admission about his mother’s struggle with old age and said euthanasia must not be turned into an electoral issue. 

“My mother is 91. When I visit her, she often doesn’t recognise me. I often can’t even communicate with her,” he said, as emotion crackled his voice.

“I see her suffering. I ask ‘what life is she living?’. But she’s alive. Should I kill her?” 

Grech said he found the concept of euthanasia “very worrying” but that the issue merited serious discussion, away from the glare and euphoria of an electoral campaign. 

“Maybe today, I’ll tell my loved ones I don’t want to be allowed to live like that. But who knows what I will be thinking at the time?” 

Calls to introduce euthanasia were first put on the local political agenda in January 2021, when Labour Party deputy leader Daniel Micallef said that his father’s struggle and ultimate death had convinced him of its merit. 

The Labour Party has not adopted an official stance on the issue, though Robert Abela has said that he would like a "national debate" about it.

The only political party to explicitly call for euthanasia legislation so far is Volt Malta, which is fielding just two candidates in the upcoming election. 

Grech said the issue was far too important and sensitive to become an electoral issue. 

“Let’s not treat this as something political thing - something to throw into an election campaign. This requires serious discussion that goes beyond a general election campaign,” he said. 

He was more categorical when asked about abortion, noting that the PN statute explicitly stated that life begins at conception. That principle would continue to guide party policy, he said, though the party had a duty to address issues that were leading women to abort. 

The PN leader was speaking during an hour-long pre-recorded interview on 103 radio with academic and radio host Andrew Azzopardi. 

Azzopardi noted that he had invited both Prime Minister Robert Abela and Grech to debate one another on his show, but that so far only Grech had replied. The invitation remained open, he said. 

Grech spoke about several aspects of the PN’s electoral campaign, from transport to taxes, mental health and hunting and trapping. 

Mario Galea

Grech insisted that he and Mario Galea “always had a good relationship”, although the two did not always agree. 

Galea, who will not be running for reelection, has said that people within the PN made his life “hell” and mocked him for his struggles with mental health. 

Grech said he had no evidence that this was true, and if presented with proof would discipline whoever had done so. 

Mount Carmel Hospital: the government has pledged a new mental health hospital. Bernard Grech says Labour promises cannot be trusted.

Mental health, he said, would be a priority under the PN. He said he was horrified by photos showing the dilapidated of Mount Carmel Hospital and argued that Labour could not be trusted to fix the situation.

The PN’s electoral prospects

Grech said he remained convinced that the PN was making the best proposals but stopped short of saying he believes the party will win come March 26. 

Multiple polls suggest the governing Labour Party is on track to win the election with a comfortable majority. 

Asked what would happen to him should he lose, Grech sidestepped the question, insisting the election “is not about Bernard Grech”. 

“Whatever Bernard Grech does depends on what the people decide. I’m inspired by (Ukrainian president) Zelensky. The Russians didn’t expect him to unite in the way he did. 

“But despite his lack of political experience, he wants his country to live a normal existence.” 

A trackless tram 

The PN has proposed building a trackless tram, rather than the metro system which Labour has proposed. 

Grech noted that Labour has gone strangely quiet about its metro proposal after its glitzy launch, but said that at least there was bipartisan agreement that Malta needs a mass transport system. 

The trackless tram would work on new, wider roads on the periphery of towns and villages, with traffic rerouted underground in the most problematic areas. Buses and minibuses will then shuttle commuters between the tram stations and village cores, he said.

It could stretch “from Birżebbuġa to Mellieħa”, take people from the airport to tourist hotspots, and also reach industrial estates, unlike the metro proposal, he said. 

Hunting and trapping

Grech defended hunting and trapping as a traditional hobby, saying that while he himself “does not get it”, he has no right to deny people their passion. 

“I love birds. So do trappers, in their own way,” he said, adding that what was important was that protected birds were not killed and that hunters and trappers obeyed exiting laws.