Bernard Grech on Sunday warned party followers that if they forgot Malta's ugly history they were bound to relive it, as the PN marked 44 years from Black Monday.
On October 15, 1979, a group of Socialist thugs went on a rampage and burnt down Times of Malta's building in Valletta before ransacking the home of then Opposition leader Eddie Fenech Adami in Birkirkara. They also attacked PN clubs in Valletta and Floriana.
On Sunday, the party also marked six years from the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on October 16, which has also become known as Black Monday.
“Those who forget history are destined to relive it. It is our obligation to remember our ugly history and to do our utmost not to relive it. We did not just live this ugly history 44 years ago, but several times, including six years ago when Caruana Galizia was assassinated," Grech said at a PN event in Birkirkara.
“When we are attacked and they try to silence us, it is because they recognise we are a force that, once stronger, could trump them," he added.
Earlier, PN MP Claudette Buttigieg said that despite PL activists thinking they could silence Times of Malta's mouth with fire back in 1979, the newspaper had found comfort in the PN, as, on the day, the paper was published at the party's printer instead.
She said following the events of that day, the country got back on its feet stronger and more determined, with the PN and its activists being the protagonists of that movement.
Buttigieg also recalled October 16, 2017: "It is another day I will never forget: one of us Maltese - a sister - was killed in a mafia-style manner. Caruana Galizia, murdered in an explosion, was a mother, daughter and sister whose weapon was the pen."
And just like 44 years ago, the people who silenced Caruana Galizia thought they would silence the country. But her assassination bred a national movement that brought down the government of Joseph Muscat and which, Buttigieg believes, will be instrumental in bringing down Robert Abela's government.
'Maltese deserve a better life'
In his weekly address to party supporters, themed “a better life” Grech also spoke about the current state of living.
He said the Maltese deserved a better life, especially since the party insisted on protecting life from beginning to end.
Grech said that recent months were “turbulent” for the Maltese. The Maltese had spent the longest days of the year in total darkness because of power outages, saw the winding down of Airmalta, experienced a drop in the frequency of rubbish collection and were still wasting time in traffic.
“We are living a crisis after the other - a scandal after the other - that is creating insecurity and uncertainty. We want a long-term and immediate plan,” he said.
Grech said that contrary to PL, which he claimed helped people in return for votes, the PN helped everyone as everyone deserved dignity and a better life.
He said the PN had plans to cut down delays in court and planned on investing in education, health and infrastructure.
“The details are yet to be confirmed, but it is unacceptable that someone dies because of lack of timely health service,” he claimed.
PN MP Alex Borg also addressed the event.