It has been 100 days since my appointment as Deputy Leader for Party Affairs of the Nationalist Party. A hectic, but rewarding 100 days which have set the tone for the months, and years to come: a clear commitment to help regenerate the Nationalist Party and make it electable again. It is an uphill struggle, I know, and not a challenge for the faint hearted. But I was never one to shy away from challenges and certainly not this time. I have made mine a full-time commitment – meeting people at Dar Centrali, and beyond. In my first 100 days, I, together with my team, organized countless fund-raising events, which raised much needed revenue to financially strengthen the Nationalist Party.

The most remarkable one was the fund-raising telethon, back in December, from which the Nationalist Party raised the whopping, record sum of €620,319, made up mostly of small donations from party activists – despite the false spin by Labour, and its fellow travellers in the media. They measure others by their own yardstick. With me at the helm, the Nationalist Party created better checks and balances for those who donate to actually see where their donation is going.

I met a good number of associations, individuals, and representatives of different sectors to listen to their concerns, and ambitions – this shall enable us to flesh out the way forward for the Nationalist Party. Party membership too has been given a much-needed boost – no less than 1000 new card-paying members have joined the party, mostly young people. This is encouraging indeed – especially when the majority of the new members are young people.

A dedicated team from my office has been getting in touch with former card-paying members, enquiring why they stopped their membership, listening to their grievances, and reaching out. Some cases go back two decades. Over the years, the Nationalist Party lost a significant part of its core vote for a multitude of reasons. It needs to win them back – and for this to happen we cannot sit on our laurels. We must admit our mistakes, and reach out.

A committee dedicated to lifelong members has also been created. It would be wrong to assume that a lifelong member is there to stay. It does not work that way. We have had cases of lifelong members who looked elsewhere – and no one noticed, thinking, wrongly, that once a lifelong member always a lifelong member. Taking people for granted is definitely not the way forward – and will not be. Adrian Delia will not allow it, and neither shall I. 

The previous PN administration did its best to put the financial house in order. We shall strengthen that. Together with Pierre Portelli, chairman of Media Link Communications, we are putting the Nationalist Party media outlets back in financial shape, not least our newspapers which have, over the past years, failed to be profitable.

Technology is being given its due weight – not least by making free WiFi available at PN headquarters and at MediaLink.

AZAD, the Nationalist Party think tank, is being re-organized because a party cannot regenerate itself without thinking outside the box. For years, AZAD served to flesh out the policies of the Nationalist Party – and those policies gave us the new economic and social sectors we have today. AZAD was the party’s powerhouse but, over time, it lost its relevance. That has to change – and fast. We have a full time Chief Executive Office, Roderick Agius, who also happens to be a seasoned journalist and broadcaster who, with his team, has been entrusted to restore AZAD to its former glory. 

The various party branches are being strengthened, with new people encouraged to join. It is works in progress at the Nationalist Party.

Ours is an open door policy. The headquarters have, once again, become a hive of activity. As deputy leader for party affairs, together with my leadership team colleagues: deputy leader David Agius, Secretary General Clyde Puli and under the helm of PN leader Adrian Delia, we are eager, and determined to strengthen the Nationalist Party and make it electable again. And we will.

 

Robert Arrigo is the PN deputy leader for party affairs