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PN will redouble efforts to win back Gozo - Simon Busuttil
The PN needs to win back the trust of the Gozitans following dismal electoral showing in March, leadership contender Simon Busuttil says.
14 April 2013, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
2 min read
The PN needs to win back the trust of the people, especially in Gozo, party leadership contender Simon Busuttil said.
Speaking during a meeting with PN councillors in Ghajnsielem on Saturday, the outgoing deputy leader said the PN must redouble its efforts to win back people's trust in Gozo.
In the 9 March election, the PN failed to win the majority of seats in what was considered as a Nationalist fortress, for the first time since 1955.
Busuttil said that with the exception of the last election Gozo traditionally supported the PN as their natural choice in Government; and stressed the need for the party to reverse the situation starting with a stronger representation for Gozo within the party structures.
"First we need to strengthen our presence among people in Gozo throughout the entire five years and not just before an election. Secondly, we need to revisit the party's structures to reflect the island's regional status," Busuttil said.
The former MEP added: "I know what it means to work hard to earn trust in Gozo. And the entire party must now work hard to regain that trust."
The PN needed to attract a new generation of activists in Gozo, particularly youths, to come forward and make themselves felt, he told the PN councillors who will be voting in the first round of the PN leadership election.
"We need to empower them to operate within renewed and welcoming structures," Busuttil said.
Busuttil who will be facing off former tourism minister Mario de Marco, veteran MP Francis Zammit Dimech and outsider Ray Bugeja, noted that in its first three weeks in office, the Labour government had already allowed several workers in Government Departments in the sister island to move to different workplaces "in order to pay for its electoral promises".
This was creating confusion and leaving certain workplaces undermanned, he pointed out. "But if Labour tries to pay for its votes at the expense of other workers, it will find us challenging them strongly." Busuttil warned.
While thanking the councillors for supporting him during his bid to become PN deputy leader last year, Busuttil said: "I now seek your support for the party leadership and I promise to be there for you."
He added that the party's challenge was not a one-man task but a task for a leadership team.
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.... ehhh indunaw issa li Ghawdex mhux taghhom u qatt ma jkun?
Ghawdex ta' l'Ghawdxin u l'Ghawdxin ma jhallu l-had juzaghhom!
L' Ghawdxin mhux "CWIEC"!
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PN will redouble efforts to win back Gozo,said simple Simon. Tqanzaħ Xmun,izda jekk bħall ma qed tgħid ser titqanzaħ id-doppju,oqgħod attent għax jekk tesaġera xi rawta taħtek tista tagħmel.
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I stand to correct you peppi x. Her ladyship Giovanna Debono has been dishing out pjaciri not just before the election but during the whole 25 years of pn administration. Now comes Busullotti as usual and he thinks that with Giovanna out of the way, he can persuade the Gozitans to vote for the pn once again. Wishful thinking dear Simon Busulotti.
Igor P. Shuvalov •
"the Labour government had already allowed several workers in Government Departments in the sister island to move to different workplaces "in order to pay for its electoral promises". DR Busuttil: What about the movements of workers just before the election effected by the then Minister of Gozo? Not the mention about the movements to accommodate certain workers that happened throughout the previous administration.
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The Gozitans have been cured from the poison injected in them in the past and they are using their brains and do what is best for them. They will congratulate themselves for this election's choice.
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GonziPN pronounced that Gozo belonged to the nationalists, that Gozo belongs to them,
The mighty had spoken and they have now been humiliated,
an apology to the Gozitans is in order and a statement that never again will the Gozitans be taken for granted or treated as serfs.
