Delia began proceedings with a long winded speech where he denied the allegations, which he labelled as 'personal attacks', made by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, He said the idea that he personally owned offshore accounts and that he was somehow involved in prostitution was preposterous. Delia then revealed that he will be presenting his declaration of assets, that have examined by auditors, in the coming days.

The former PN Treasurer, Perici Calascione said that he ran for the post out of love for the party and said he would involve as many activists and members of the public as possible in order to achieve a winning formula. 

 

Portelli said that the two landslide election defeats proved that the PN had lost it's way, and called on the party to return to its traditional principles and go "back to basics>"

Said, who is the only candidate who is a member of parliament, said that he was determined to bring the party back on its feet, and he believed that his conviction and experience within the various levels of the party provided the perfect platform to create a successful party.

 

What is your vision for the PN? - Josianne Camilleri from Newsbook

Said began by saying that by attempting to please everyone, the PN had pleased no one. He insisted that the party is based on Christian Democratic principles, such as the right to life and the value in work, social justice, and common good. He said that the latter had been forgotten by the Labour Government. 

Solidarity and subsidiarity, Portelli said, were the two basic principles of the PN. He said that solidarity meant that the country should help those who needed it most who he he said were pensioners, young people, and vulnerable families. 

"We give our public lands to millionaires; Smart City, White Rocks, ITS and the government did not build one single apartment for our young people."

With regards, to subsidiarity, he said that decisions needed come from he bottom to the top, and said that the debate should have been held in front of party members, who should have asked the questions.

Alex Perici Calasione said that the pN's values laid out in the 'Fhemiet Bazici' document indicated the values of the party. The challenge, he explained, was applying those values to the current social reality.

Delia echoed these sentiments, saying that the party had built the correct path for the country in the past but had gotten lost over the last couple of administrations. He said that the PL believes in politics of convenience and populism.

 

What is your opinion on the coalition with PD? Do you believe that it was a mistake? - Neil Camilleri from The Malta Independent

Portelli, Said, and Perici Calascione all said that they agreed with the decision to form a coalition at the time, and all indicated that they  would respect the decision taken prior to the election and would maintain collaboration with the PD MPs.

Said said that he wants the party not to need a coalition by the next election, while Portelli criticised that the decision was taken from the top with no debate.

Delia said that he did not agree with the coalition from the start, and believed that it sent a message that the PN did not think it would win the election. He called for a greater investment in the gathering of information, as the numbers which indicated to the PN that a coalition would be good for the election, were extremely incorrect.

He also said that he would respect the coalition.

What will you do if the PN fails to make inroads in the MEP and Local Council elections, will you reconsider your position?  Keith Micallef from The Times of Malta

Delia and Perici Calascione both said that they would not resign, claiming that their visions for the party were long term. 

Said pointed to his success, while occupying the post of secretary general, in the 2015 local council elections, were he said that the PN won almost half of the vote with an extremely small budget. He also called for a better resourced, both in terms of finance and personnel, Elcom.

Portelli repeated his stance which was revealed in an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday that he would resign if he does not manage to win 20,000 votes

What is the PN's ideology? What would be your legacy? - Yannick Pace from MaltaToday

Delia pointed towards the diversity  of intellectual thought within the PN as its greatest strength, while he said that the PL follows the politics of convenience and only looked in terms of votes.

According to Perici Calascione  a politician should be measured how much he improved people's lives and the country. I

Portelli said that he want to introduce a living wage, and not the current minimum wage. 

Referencing the Party's long history, Said said that the party had become reactionary, and  needed to reaffirm its values, and conduct studies into how society has changed and will continue to change over the next five to fifteen years. He said the study will be consistently updated. He said that the party needed a group of thinkers, which would be mix of academics and young people, workers, and women. He pointed to traffic and the crumbling infrastructure as issues he would like to tackle.

Are Daphne Caruana Galizia's allegations at all similar to Chris Cardona's? - MT to Delia

Delia said that religion is based on belief, while politics is based on facts. He said the issue with the claims made by the journalist against the Labour party, particularly in the case of Egrant, was that institutions like the police and the office of the attorney general did not take action.  He reiterated that the allegations against him are completely false, and said that he would divest from all his directorships and positions should he become PN Leader.

 

You have contested in the MEP elections and the General Election but you did not get elected, what makes you think that you will be able to get elected as Leader? - TOM to Perici Calascione

Perici Calascione pointed to his tenure as PN Treasurer were he said, through a lot of work and help, they were able to to stabilise the party in the face of the most difficult financial situation of its history. He said that his repeated attempts show his loyalty to the party

 

Portelli's assets and debt of St Philip's Hospital - TMI to Portelli

Portelli said that he reduced the debt when he became a shareholder through a 1 million maltese lira investment. He also said that the value of the land of the hospital is worth triple of the debt owed to the bank.

 

Chris Said and his proposal to re enter cis gender terms into law  - NB to Said

Said maintained that he will not reduce anything from the current legislation, and reiterated that he agreed with granting the same rights to everyone. He explained that he believed that a choice should be granted to every individual and should respect the dignity of all people. He also said that a majority of maltese and gozitans agreed with his proposal

 

Portelli and 'back to basics' - TMI to Portelli

Portelli criticised the government for not listening to any of the amendments proposed by the PN during the Marriage Equality debate. He referenced a Times of London article when claiming that immigration was the biggest threat to Europe.

 

Party finances - MT to Perici Calascione

He referenced the work done as the PN Treasurer, he also maintained that he would do everything in his power to prevent the sale of PN Band Clubs.

Said said that the party would not need to sell it if they used it properly, while Portelli said that if the party has assets then they should use them.

 

Abortion and Euthansia - NB to Perici Calascione

The former treasurer made it clear that he was against abortion and euthanasia, and said it goes against the development of society

 

Caruana Galizia Allegations - NB to Delia

Delia said he defined the allegations as attacks because they were accusations that had no basis in fact. 

"If a lawyer defended a criminal, does that make them a criminal, if their client has debt, does it mean that the lawyer has debt?"

 

Said and his resignation following direct orders - TMI to Said

Said maintained that the side of the NAO report the journalist was quoting was 'super one news' spin. He said that whoever has made a mistake in his family has paid the price, and said that he resigned in spite of the fact that he was asked to remain. He also said it was a farce that the Commission against Corruption was behind on so many cases, but was immediate in its reaction to his brother. He insisted that no one was above the government.

 

Xenophobia and migration  - NB to Portelli

When asked if his claims on migration were xenophobic, Portelli said that a census would prove him correct and reminded the journalist that surveys indicate that biggest concern for the maltese population is immigration.

 

Perici Calascione and the Corinthia - TMI to Perici Calascione

Faced with questions concerning his wife, who is the daughter of Joe Pisani, the owner of the Corinthia Group, and any potential conflict of interest, he said that he is calling for code of ethics and declaration of any conflicts of interest in the PN, 'from the Leader all the way down.'

He also said that his marriage had no affect on the DB scandal, and said that he was not involved and did not communicate with anyone from DB. 

 

 

Allegations - MT and TOM to Delia

Two separate questions on the subject saw Delia say that the articles were uploaded in such a way to rouse suspicion and speculation.

 

More of the same? - TOM to Said

Said disagreed that him forming part of both the Gonzi and Busuttil-led parties said that his experience means that he knows what needs to be done.