‘It's all about change’ – Mario de Marco

Outlining his vision for the Nationalist Party, Mario de Mario this evening launched his campaign for the PN leadership race.

De Marco will be presenting the 900 PN councillors who will choose the new party leader on 4 May a document including 18 proposals. He explained that the proposals are up for discussion and after meeting all councillors he would be presenting a definite programme for his leadership bid.

The former tourism and environment minister's main aim is to have a party which is closer to the people and build the bridges with sectors of society who turned their back on the party in the 9 March election.

"The PN did not only lose individuals but it lost whole segments of society," de Marco said, adding that the party must be inclusive and open to all people including Nationalists, former Nationalists and traditional Labour voters.

"Before looking at individuals, the party must look at the whole segments of society which it lost. However we also have to build bridges with individuals who were alienated," de Marco said when asked whether the party needs to reconcile with a number of former PN politicians and activists.

Asked why PN councillors should vote for him, de Marco said: "I would never say that I am better than anyone else. But I would say that I am different, as all other three candidates are."

De Marco will be facing off current PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil, party stalwart Francis Zammit Dimech and outsider Raymond Bugeja.

"I am not better than the other candidates but I simply stand for a different choice. The councillors will be choosing the candidate which they deem best to occupy the seat. Its all about their choice and not about candidates shaping themselves according to the councillors' demands."

Speaking at a press conference in Floriana,  de Marco launched his 'Renewal for Change' campaign  and stressed the need for the party to reflect society which was consistently changing and becoming more open, similar to contemporary European societies.

"Rather than expecting society to change according to the party's political beliefs, it should be the party which should be prepared to change in line with an evolving modern society," de Marco said.

Pointing out the main reasons why the party suffered a heavy defeat at the polls, de Marco said that the party lost its appeal among the young people, liberals and the gay community. He added that although the PN was genuinely proposing the introduction of civil partnerships, it was not credible and "might have been perceived as a position of convenience" due to the party's stand on divorce and other civil rights issues.

He said that during the last election unlike previous elections  it was evident that "it was hip to vote Labour." De Marco added that the PN lost the election because it was no longer representative of the people's aspirations despite doing its best for the country.

"The PN must return to being a socially and economically liberal party and it would be wrong if we are perceived as just a conservative party."

Other factors which led to the party's dismal showing at the polls was the internal strife, "which led to the party being percieved as divided and weak. He added that the party did not take intop consideration the fact that up to 2008, when the PN won by a very thin margin, swathes of Labourites voted PN because they did not agree with former Labour leader Alfred Sant stance on Dom Mintoff and EU membership but these returned to the fold once Labour had a new leader.

De Marco's document includes proposals to change the party's structures which he said "remained unchanged over the last 30 years."

He said the party needs to have permanent structures which discuss ideas and policies and pointed out that in the past the party was unable to have any internal debate over policy and only did so sporadically.

"Policies need to be updated on a continuous basis and not sporadically, to reflect the needs of an evolving society."

He also insisted that the party also needed to be more effective in the selection and training of candidates and said that the party's think tank AZAD must play an important role in training candidates and making sure they are prepared not only cosmetically but also politically.

The party must also have its own structures which provide candidates, MPs, MEPs and officials with resources, support and information, de Marco said.

On the party's financial and administrative woes, de Marco said that the party needs to have a technical team which identifies the reasons why the party's media and commercial entities were in the red and find the most effective and sustainable ways to run these entities within reasonable timeframes.

De Marco also had harsh words for the way the PN communicated with the people and said that the party media and activities "need to look beyond communicating with party supporters. We need to change the discourse and the mediums in order to reach out to the widest audience possible."

He also said the role of the party deputy leader needed to be strengthened and did not rule out considering adopting the Labour model which has two deputy leaders, although his preference would be to have one deputy leader with greater responsibilities in running the party together with the secretary-general.

Asked whether his ministerial responsibility at MEPA harmed the party in the 9 March election, de Marco reminded that the 2008 promise to reform MEPA was the result of the authority issuing too many permits "of dubious legitimacy."

"I had a choice, I could either open the floodgates and have the authority issue permits at an environmental cost or give MEPA an environmental dimension and have contractors complaining and be more comfortable with Labour."

He added that MEPA was far from perfect but he had embarked on a project to make the authority more efficient, accountable and strengthen its enforcement aspect and on the whole achieved his targets.