The PN leadership race has reignited enthusiasm in supporters and followers and, whether they support me or Dr Delia, all our Party members are united in one clear resolve – for the PN to win again.

I have spoken on other occasions as to why the PN needs to win again. We need to give a long-term vision to this country, going beyond the attitude of selling our reputation cheap; a vision attracting new niches of investment like we did with gaming and financial services, ensuring the diversification of our economy. We need to take the path of social justice, where we can all have faith in our institutions. We need to restore the notion of the common good, which has now been distorted into perverse notions of Labour Party good. We need to secure the future of our youth and our families by not being content with a minimum wage or low paid jobs, but by taking the leap for a better quality of life and more spending power for our families. And, as a matter of urgency, we need to address the growing numbers of new poor, including many pensioners and many low-income earners squeezed into a spiral of rising rents. 

All Party members taking sides, or reflecting away from the boxing-ring of social media, have one or more of the above reasons to cast their vote next Saturday. They are driven by our huge desire for the PN to be – yet again – a driving force for the common good, a force for innovation and prosperity for our beloved country. This noble motive is what unites us in the PN. Notwithstanding all the vitriol that has come out of this leadership race, this remains an amazing exercise of democracy which may strengthen the Nationalist Party to the dismay of our rivals now basking in the news of our perceived divisions.

To win again we must not only be clear as to why we need to win again, we must also be clear on how to win again. How do we get back the thousands of voters who deserted us in 2013 and continued to desert us in 2017? The right answers to the latter question will, without any doubt, be the determining factor over whether the Nationalist Party can return to the privilege of defining the future of the country in 2022, or whether we leave Labour to keep on with the job and further transform our country into a Malta which, in many regards, is not the Malta we deserve.

Getting back our lost votes needs to start with a proper understanding of the phenomenon. First of all, we all need to realise that the present Labour majority relies heavily on PN or floating voters who chose to trust Labour, but who are only waiting for the right PN to come back.

The right kind of PN to welcome those voters back is the one with which you can discuss things, which is listening to your concerns and, most importantly, which has its arms wide open to welcome you back.

If the Party members trust me with being their shepherd, I will go after every lost sheep. I will do this by first throwing away all the dogmas and the prejudices. There can be no toxic names or “he can never come back”. The hundreds who deserted us cannot all be wrong about us. They are not our enemies – they are past friends who only yearn to be friends again, and we have to take the first step. I will go to all of these people and ask them just one question: Do you want to work for the mission of this party again?    

Reconciliation is a process that involves much more than merely uttering the word. Reconciliation requires the shedding of all arrogance and humbling ourselves with the mammoth task ahead and the responsibility of a Party inheriting 120 years of glorious achievements. Reconciliation requires, first of all, vehemently refusing all retribution or chips on the shoulder. I am saddened to hear statements along that line by others and I will not go that way. My first act as leader will be to extend my hand of friendship to Dr Delia and all his supporters. 

Finally, winning again must by definition start by holding on to the voters that trusted us in the last election. The path to winning again cannot even start if we lose any of the 135,696 voters who backed the PN in June. Those voters voted for the call to integrity of Simon Busuttil. We need to keep them on board too. In cleaning our house, we need to ensure that we do not throw out the baby with the bath water.