PN on way to financial recovery

The selling of PN clubs would not be the solution to address the financial crisis of the Nationalist Party, according to PN deputy leader for parliamentary affairs Mario de Marco.

The solution, he adds, lies in changing the party's modus operandi such as the outsourcing of the printing of the PN's newspapers and widening NET TV audience.

Speaking on Radio 101, de Marco told newsbook journalist Josianne Camilleri the PN had to make better use of its assets, such as the PN clubs, by opening up their use.

"There are so many youths who have never set foot at one of these clubs or at our PN headquarters that we have to come up with ideas on how to make good use of these premises," de Marco said.

Last week, the PN leadership was presented with a sustainability report on the party's financial situation. In an interview with the Sunday Times, PN secretary general Chris Said spoke about the PN's plan to break even by September.

Replying to the journalist's questions, de Marco said the party financing law - which the government planned to move before the end of year - was important in ensuring transparency but this should not be confused with the PN's financial problem.

He said, in the runup to the law, a healthy debate should take place on what kind of law Malta should employ given the various laws which existed abroad.

"One of the subjects that arise is whether the state should help finance political parties since they carry a public function. Some countries help parties according to the amount of votes they receive; while others allow private financing," he said.

PN deputy leader for party affairs Beppe Fenech Adami admitted that there were some PN employees who have not yet been paid in full, but they were in the process of ensuring everyone gets paid for the hours worked.

"This is the reality we are facing now and we are working hard to find solutions. We cannot do marathons every month to pay for the salaries and we are determined to see our commercial entities be self-financed," Fenech Adami said.

Raymond Caruana, Karin Grech murders

While speaking on the Whistleblower Act approved by parliament this week, Fenech Adami said it was "almost impossible" that in a small country like Malta there was no one who had the slightest information about the murders of Karin Grech and Raymond Caruana.

Karin Grech, the daughter of Professor Edwin Grech, was killed in 1977 by a letter bomb addressed to her father at the age of 15. On the other hand, Raymond Caruana was shot dead at the Gudja club in 1986, aged 26.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat expressed his hopes that the Whistleblower Act could shed new light on the unresolved murders.

"It's almost impossible to believe that there is no one without any information om these murders," Fenech Adami said. "I hope the police and the state continue investigating these cases. The Whistleblower Act is in itself a tool which may lead to the cases to be solved."

He added that without the political will, the fight against corruption will not be real while warning the same fight should not be politicised to gain political mileage.

Malta 'must speak in one voice' on migration

Over the past 10 years, 16,000 irregular migrants made their way to the Maltese shores, of which almost 13,000 were either repatriated or have voluntarily left the country to go elsewhere.

"These figures show we have already done a lot and the talks which this government is engaging in are not different from what we used to do," de Marco said.

"We have always insisted we had to be tough with European Union, and to speak as one. But being tough with Europe does not mean overriding human rights and disrespecting human dignity."

He insisted this was the basic difference between the PN and Labour: "We acknowledge that in life we have rights, but we also have duties and responsibilities."

'Not here because we are our fathers' sons'

Being 'de Marco' and 'Fenech Adami' did not automatically place them at the helm of the Nationalist Party, but it was their "responsibility" and "love for the party" which did.

De Marco said their surnames brought "huge responsibility" as they had to honour the good their fathers did for the country and the party.

"However, we are not our fathers. Our fathers were unique men and we cannot be their photocopies. It was destiny which brought us here to work in the party," he said.

"It would have been very easy for me to focus on my profession but responsibility called. Like Beppe, I am here to serve and it has nothing to do with our fathers having been here before us."