PN will overcome challenges ahead - Chris Said

Tonight, the PN kicked-off its four-day General Council by discussing the report analysing the PN's electoral drubbing, with new secretary-general Chris Said optimisticly inviting the party to embark on a difficult journey and return to winning ways.

New secretary-general Chris Said said that the PN had transformed the country in its time in office, however, the "people gave us a clear messege" and the party was anaylsing and understanding why the people voted the PN out.

An upbeat Said, stressed that the solution to the party's woes lay within its reach and added that the party could return to winning ways.

Noting that the General Council would mark the beginning of "a new voyage which will return the party to its true vocation, that of serving the people," Said paid tribute to his predecessors Louis Galea, Austin Gatt, Joe Saliba and Paul Borg Olivier.

"A new generation of administrators is being trusted with the task to renew the party and help it return to a position where it can fulfil the country's aspiratioins," he said.

Reminding the party's councillors that the PN had a tradition of great leaders who achieved many milestones for the country, Said encouraged the party supporters and stressed: "We will make it and whoever is prepared to join us on this endeavour will help us make the country a better place."

Although the party's electoral defeat gave a damning verdict of former leader Lawrence Gonzi's performance,Said praised the former Prime Minister for his selfless efforts to move the country forward. 

Underlining the need to rebild the PN into a party of trust and a party of all the people, Said said that the party needed its councillors and supporters.

"We need your ideas, your commitment and we will extend our invitation to whoever is willing to give a helping hand. The party does not belong to its leadership, but it belongs to all the persons who want to bring a positive change."

He went on to reassure that the party will be undergoing a rejuvenation and a thorough reform in the coming weeks and months, adding that he would "deliver as I have always done and I am honoured that I will be working alongside many persons who have the will and enthusiasm to make the party, the people's party once again."

A fund-raising event will bring the council to a close on Sunday. Mimicking Obama's 2012 presidential campaign slogan, the PN's General Council is entitled 'Forward' ('il quddiem).

The PN lost the 2013 elections by an unprecedented 35,000 votes that gave Labour a nine-seat majority in the House. In its electoral defeat report, the commission - chaired by newly elected PN executive council president, Ann Fenech, with Mary Anne Lauri, Simon Mercieca, Rosette Thake and Malcolm Custò - did not shy away from identifying all the factors that informed the electorate's desire for a change in government, which gave Labour an unprecedented nine-seat majority in parliament.

The report clearly outlines the reasons for the PN's burgeoning unpopularity, pointing out former leader Lawrence Gonzi's decidedly conservative line of politics and inability to control backbench unrest, however the report omitted any reference to new leader Simon Busuttil's performance and effect as deputy leader in the run-up to the election.

Instead the blame fell squarely on government ministers, rebel MPs, Gonzi's exclusionary style of government, and the PN's siege mentality that turned many of its own supporters away and straight into Labour.

In an apparent bid to make the party headquarters in Pieta more welcoming and homely, the PN set up a cafeteria in the foyer, an activity which could also come in handy in the party's attempts to address its reported €8 million deficit.