PN says traffic contraventions should be waived after six-month period

The Nationalist Party has proposed waiving of traffic contraventions after a six-month period, if no further infractions are committed by motorists.

Addressing a moderately-sized crowd on a cold Wednesday evening outside the Hamrun Liceo, PN leader Bernard Grech presented the party’s candidates for the first district.

Thanking supporters for their “extraordinary” welcome, he said the candidates were a good mix of experienced and new faces, part of a “regeneration” within the party.

“The vision which we prepared for the country is built on logic, people’s needs, and our big love for Maltese and Gozitans. We want to work with you to push the country forward.”

Grech said a PN government would invest more on security inside towns, citing the brutal murder of Paula Dembska in Sliema earlier in the year as an episode that had shocked the nation. “We want to safeguard the localities so that you may have your peace of mind. That’s why we say ‘with you’,” referring to the PN electoral slogan, “as we will be with you and make sure you feel safe in your locality.”

Grech proposed that law enforcement inside localities would fall under the responsibility of local councils. “As a party, although we understand that laws are there to provide you guidelines and discourage you from committing felonies, we want to incentivise you to do better, and we will be rewarding those that safeguard the environment, and engage in social responsibility and good governance,” Grech said.

Nationalist MP Mario De Marco called for “much needed change” and warned voters there was an uphill battle for them to face. “We must never lose hope, as month after month, year after year, time always proved us right.”

Candidate Darren Carabott spoke of the lack of security in the first district towns such as Hamrun, saying there were people living in fear over crime. “The government has failed us […] now is the moment to bring about change and the Nationalist Party is the only medium for that change,” Carabott said.

Christian Micallef, the freshest PN candidate on the first district thanked Nationalist MP Claudio Grech, who is now withdrawing from the electoral race, as the person who gave up his candidacy for him, and praised the electoral programme he had authored. “This electoral programme will distinguish us from a party that is tired of governing.”

Paula Mifsud Bonnici stressed on the importance for the PN to regain the majorities in the local council elections in the localities of the first district. “We have an ageing population in the district and the rising cost-of-living is making life difficult for them. The government has done nothing to address this.”