PN’s electoral manifesto launched

The Nationalist Party this afternoon unveiled its electoral manifesto on which its electoral programme for the 2013 general elections will be based.

Addressing a press conference at the PN's headquarters, secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier said the manifesto was a declaration of the PN's principles.

"It is a mission statement preceding the electoral progamme which will be launched in the comings days or weeks," Borg Olivier said, adding that it will be presented to the PN's general council on Thursday evening for approval.

"This manifesto also represents how the PN's policies developed over the last five years and where we are heading to."

The manifesto, he said, was also about'A Secure Future - Jobs, Health and Education'.

Borg Olivier said that the PN believed in a "government that doesn't interfere in people's lives and respects the new social realities".

Asked why the PN had therefore taken a stand against divorce, Borg Olivier said that a Nationalist government guaranteed that the divorce legislation would come into force because it respected people's choices.

"In its principles, the PN never excluded anyone," he said.

When asked about the PN's policy on civil unions, Borg Olivier simply replied: "We respect and acknowledge different lifestyle choices."

On gay rights, the PN's manifesto states that "personal relationships are precious and everyone should be at liberty to choose one's own lifestyle. The state will legislate to safeguard rights and establish obligation between cohabitating couples, irrespective of sexual orientation.

Borg Olivier also said that the difference between the PN and the PL lies in the government's track record where it continued to generate jobs and economic growth despite a tense economic climate.