The Nationalist Party today launched a fund-raising marathon aimed at raising funds for its EP elections campaign. In comments to The Malta Independent yesterday, PN Secretary General Chris Said said that the PN does not want to spend more than it can afford on the EP election campaign and will be depending on donations by contributors to cover part of the campaign expenses.

This paper asked Dr Said whether the PN had embarked on a modest campaign because of financial trouble. “We declared right from the start that we would have a modest campaign and not spend more than we can afford. As promised our campaign is based on continuous contact with people. On the other hand, the PL has once again embarked on an extravagant campaign that includes many billboards and full-page colour adverts in every newspaper, except for ours of course.”

When pressed to say if the PN was limiting its campaign because of a lack of funds, Dr Said said that it a known fact that the PN’s financial resources are limited. “We will only be spending what we have allocated for the campaign and not more. The fund-raising event is aimed at covering part of those expenses. Our contributors will be helping us fund the campaign and getting our message across.”

PL in ‘wild spending spree’

Dr Said reiterated claims that the PL is using taxpayer money to fund its electoral campaign. “It is as clear as day. Take a look at the Sunday papers – there was a full-page colour advert by the PL and a similar full-page colour advert by the government. One was paid with PL money and the other with taxpayer money, but both had the same and were part of the EP elections campaign.”

The PN Secretary General also referred to the latest billboards saga. “The PM himself has now admitted that the government was using illegal PL billboards. These billboards were used by the PL during the last general election campaign and were supposed to be removed soon after. But they were kept there for fourteen months, during which they were being used by the government. Someone made thousands from renting out these billboards. Now they are being used by the PL again. There is no distinction whatsoever between government and party. It is clear that the PL is making use of tax money to fund its electoral campaign.”

When asked if the PN considered this as an unfair advantage, Dr Said insisted that the PN had proposed capping the amount that can be spent by political parties during electoral campaigns, but the proposal was not included in the government’s white paper on party financing. “The PL is on a wild spending spree. But I have no doubt that people actually realise that the PL is using the money they pay in taxes to fund its propaganda campaign.”