PN MEP candidate wants to make career out of political vocation

PN MEP candidate Jonathan Shaw has called on the Nationalist Party to stake its claim on certain issues, even if it means swinging votes against it.

Speaking to Sunday newspaper ILLUM, Shaw argued that the PN must no longer take a common stand to garner the approval of everyone but instead he encouraged the party to take a stance on certain issues.

Shaw said that he offered his capabilities to the Nationalist Party. "The role of an MEP demands a lot of negotiating and expertise. I am not going to the EU Parliament because I want money or I need a job. I want to make a carrier out of political vocation."

The 40-year-old entrepreneur also lauded the Labour Party for not sitting pretty in the run up to the March election.

"Rather than waiting for voters to come to them, the Labour Party went out and approached new people, swinging new voters in the process."

In an interview with ILLUM, Shaw echoed the PN's stance on the Civil Unions Bill and the controversial Individual Investor Program.

While agreeing with the Civil Unions Bill, Shaw called on the government to accept the Opposition's amendments, particularly those relevant to the adoption of children. "The adoption of children is not even mentioned in the Marriage Act, but the government has proceeded to include it in the Civil Unions Bill," Shaw argued.

Asked whether the controversial citizenship scheme, will ultimately be of benefit to the state's coffers, Shaw said the government cannot take certain decisions in favour of money but instead it must listen to other ideas.

While expressing solidarity with the PN's former workers, Shaw said he is perplexed how given the magnitude of the party's financial demise, it nevertheless, did not foresee it.

Following its record loss in the March 2013 elections, several workers within the party were unpaid while others were laid off, a feat which left PN MEP candidate astounded.

Read more in today's edition of ILLUM.