PN believes silent majority will ditch Labour on election day

The Nationalist Party still holds faith in a silent majority that will vote PN on election day, despite polls indicating a 40,000-vote majority in the Labour Party’s favour.

During a press conference on Tuesday, PN candidate Justin Schembri said that “the public is capable of reaching their conclusions” after several Labour MPs were embroiled in scandals this week.

Education Minister Justyne Caruana was found to have breached ethics when awarding a direct order contract to her close friend Daniel Bogdanovic, while MP Ian Castaldi Paris said he will not contest the coming election after a tax probe into his financial affairs identified hundres of thousands in undeclared wealth.

Meanwhile, Labour MP Silvio Grixti resigned from parliament after police interrogated him over an investigation linked to probable fraudulent sickness certificates.

“Despite survey numbers, we have confirmation that Abela cannot control his government,” Schembri said.

Rebekah Cilia, a PN candidate, added that there are people who still have faith in the Nationalist Party despite what various political surveys have indicated about the PN’s standing.

“Maybe they are not speaking out enough, but when push comes to shove they won’t stand for these scandals […] People are talking quietly, but on theday they will speak out,” she said.

PN leader Bernard Grech had brushed aside recent poor polling results in a similar manner, saying that a “silent majority” will turn out for the party on election day.

“There are 80,000 people who are not speaking out in these surveys. They are not regularly quizzed, but they will have their say on election day,” Grech said

He passed the comment after a MaltaToday survey found a 16-point gap in support ratings for the PL and PN.

At the same conference, Nationalist Party candidate Charles Azzopardi criticized the Labour Party’s handlings of recent scandals. “The yardstick isn’t the same, not even for them,” he said, referring to different measures taken against politicians.

Rebekah Cilia added that the Justyne Caruana scandal in particular put the wider education sector in a bad light. “The sector has suffered through a lot of turbulence because of government shortcomings,” she said.

Justin Schembri similarly said that keeping Justyne Caruana in cabinet sends a bad signal politically. “These things mean you can move forward in life without the necessary qualifications”.

“Justyne Caruana’s place is not in the Education Ministry. Abela should use the same yardstick he used with other ministers and kick her out,” he continued.

Schembri referred to how Abela suspended Rosianne Cutajar from her parliamentary secretary duties after the Standards Commissioner found that she breached ethics when brokering a property deal with businessman Yorgen Fenech.

Fenech is currently being charged with masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.