What is the aim behind the PN Loan Scheme?

When Simon Busuttil became leader of the Nationalist Party he immediately aimed at getting the party finances sorted and resolved. It’s not a state secret that the party accumulated quite a lot of debt and had problems in the day-to-day running of the party. The challenge was two-fold; to pay back the debt and manage the day-to-day spending.

Within six months after the general election, once Simon Busuttil took over, the day-to-day spending was extraordinarily controlled.

How?

There was a lot of spending which could be cut off completely. Our first exercise was cost-cutting. Printing of our newspaper, for instance, is no longer done in house. There were also issues related to companies within the party which did not generate the intended money and decisions were taken to have them wound up. The number of employees was also decreased, of course. All of this resulted in savings which were then dedicated to things we needed to pay.

How much money does the party owe?

It is not a figure I can divulge. It’s an internal figure and I cannot say how much. But there is good news. We have made a lot of progress. The PN has managed to regularise the debt we had with the banks. By regularise, it means that we have managed to reduce the capital outstanding so that monthly repayments became more manageable.

We sold some properties, including one in Saint Julians. No one likes selling his property. But thankfully, our forefathers invested in a lot of property. The Nationalist Party is asset rich and this serves as a good base. It becomes a question of managing cash flow. No party likes to sell its clubs, but one must do what needs to be done in such circumstances.

So then Cedoli came along…

The whole idea behind the scheme is to remove any dependence on donors who would be willing to come forward and give money to the party. With the scheme, the Nationalist Party will be tied to no investors.

One must realize that all these government scandals are the result of payback, of projects and money owed to those who invested in the Labour Party. The Nationalist Party, particularly Simon Busuttil, does not want to be in that position.

Let me explain the details of how it works. Basically, this is a loan to the PN on a period of ten years. We are offering a good commercial rate of 4%. Those who are not so familiar with the subject can easily believe the criticism by the Labour Party. But when one looks at the party financing law, it was set up to speak about donations. In our case, the money is handed as a loan. According to party financing, the public has the right to know who gave a donation to the party. But we are speaking about loans. Furthermore, according to the law, a loan is considered a donation if the interest is not at a commercial rate. I do understand that when one gives a loan with a 1% interest, it is literally like giving a donation. But we are offering a rate of 4%, which is a hell of a commercial rate.

The public needs to understand that we are being tied with a contract, not with a piece of pink paper like the one which the Labour Party used to present to those participating in the 1994 scheme.

Just to be clear, a participant can give money in units of up to €10,000. So can one individual give, say for example, 5 units of €10,000 each?

No. We are very careful. First of all, we require a clear provenance of the money. So the PL argument of secrecy is completely invalid, because something cannot be secret if there is a clear audit trail. We only accept personal checks or bank draft and money which pass through the banking system cannot be secret.

Is there a capping on the amount one can give?

The grand majority of those participating in the scheme gave not more than €10,000. We had pitched it at this figure so that we can create a timeline of how things would move. It is a time consuming process; people call you for information, appointment, and time to explain all the details and so on. Things moved very fast, we were getting a lot of requests and eventually decided to accept smaller amounts. When it comes to the maximum amount, so far we had only two individuals who participated with €30,000 each.

I do not know the exact number of participants but around 250 people took part so far. I can assure you that most of those coming forward are normal working class people.

You said €30,000 was the maximum so far. But if anyone else comes and offers you more than that, would you accept it?

I would be very reluctant to do so.

Reluctant doesn’t mean you wouldn’t do it.

We wouldn’t do it because we don’t have to. We are nearly there, almost reached the €3 million.

And would you be happy with €3 million? Would everything stop there?

Yes, absolutely. We would stop the scheme. Because when we came up with this idea, originally I aimed at €2 million. But the participation was so huge, that it encouraged us to reach the €3 million.

Why stop at €3 million then?

Because we calculated that in a period of ten years, €3 million is within the financial restructuring plan. We calculated this scheme to the cent. With this figure, we will have the sufficient provision to give the money back plus the yearly interest.

If the PN gets elected in power and starts handing contracts, how will I know that the contractor did not win the tender because he had given some €30,000 to the party?

First of all, none of the two individuals who gave this amount fall under this category. They are pensioners. This is a hypothetical question. But still, I can confirm to you that these two people are pensioners, they do not even work.

The whole object of the exercise is exactly this. We are offering a competitive interest rate so that the participant cannot come ask the party for a favour. Because my obligations towards that participant would already have been paid through the interests generated.

And do you guarantee that all of the money given will be given back?

Of course. We are tied with a contract.

I recall Rosette Thake (photo above) telling the media that nothing in life is guaranteed

Let me tell you this. The PN Headquarters alone were valued by an independent architect at €16.5 million. I think that answers your questions. We are asset rich. The restructuring is intended at generating cash flow, but essentially, the party has a lot of property.

One thing which distinguishes the PN Cedoli with the Labour Party Scheme back in 94 is that they were raising funds for one particular project, the Headquarters. The money collected by this scheme, will go to what aim?

I have been making it clear that the whole point of the Cedoli is to pay bank debts and reduce loan capital. It’s a refinancing method which a lot of companies have adopted. We have not re-invented the wheel. Such schemes are included in basic A-level books.

Did any of the usual PN benefactors come forward?

The people who came forward were extremely normal people from all the spectrum of society. It was a real eye-opener. And the real eye-opener was seeing this amount of people willing to participate as they believed in the party. The number of participants was even more encouraging than the sum collected.

Do you know if any Labourites approached you to participate in the scheme?

I do not have that information and we don’t have that kind of conversation when they approach us. We simply thank them for their trust, explain the contract and how it all works and that is it.

Did Zaren Vassallo participate?

I can assure you that none of these big donors approached the party to take part in the Cedoli.

Fish farm operators?

Neither. The thing here is very simple. People are participating in the scheme because they want to help the Nationalist Party get back in government.

Before we skip onto something else, let me remind you that the Labour Party scheme to collect funds was, supposedly a loan, with no interest. What kind of loan is that? Apart from the fact that the first thing this government did was stealing Australia Hall. We did not take private properties to convert them into local party clubs.

Let’s change subject. There’s rumour that certain factions of the party want a different Leader rather than Simon Busuttil. Is this true?

That’s not a rumour. It’s an invention by the Labour Party media. After the Panama Scandal, the PL is trying to come up with any decoy possible.  

Is it true that at one point there even was a petition going round to have Dr Busuttil removed?

That is complete and utter rubbish.

But how’s the sentiment at the Dar Centrali regarding Simon Busuttil’s leadership?

Unhesitatingly, there is an extraordinary sense of confidence in Dr Busuttil. When three years ago, Simon Busuttil took over this party in what was probably the worse period of its history, he left his job at the EU and took this difficult task. When Rosette Thake and I were conducting the report on the latest general election, I would not have believed that in a period of three years the PN would have reorganised itself, created a multitude of committees and restructured so much.

Three very short years later, we’re in this situation. And the one person we need to thank is Simon Busuttil. I would not have been inclined to be involved in the party so much unless Dr Busuttil is at the helm of the party.

Is it possible that despite all of this work, the PN is failing to transpose this message to the public? What will the party message be for the next general election?

There might be a communication problem, yes. But when one looks at all the Parliamentary work the PN has done in these years, all the documents full of proposals including traffic and the economy. Rome was not built in a day. The PN has managed to restructure in the first three years. Now we will use the next 18 months to reach out and communicate better.

Do you really think that there is enough time to pass the message?

Yes. It is a challenge but 18 months is not too short. Whenever the election comes, we will be ready, focused and concentrated to communicate our message.

To communicate the message you need to improve the ratings of the PN media. Is there any plan on how you can increase the audience?

As Simon Busuttil already said, this Independence day will kick start our electoral machine. So when it comes to radio and television, once the new schedule is announced, there will be a shift in gear. I can assure you we will address this issue in a very particular manner.

As for online, believe me, we are going to win the digital media war. We have tons of ideas but I cannot tell you what they are.

Should the PN manage to increase the voters and at least reach half of those won by the Labour Party, do you think Simon Busuttil should still rule the party?

I am the kind of person that takes decision when I have all the facts in front of me. A day is a long time in politics. Let alone 18 months. Our aim is to win the next general election. I am not here to waste my time. I was convinced that this party is the right one to lead, and now I am even more convinced than ever.

The PN already started to present its electoral candidates. Will you be one of them?

My mission is the party. I have made it very clear in the past that I only wish to work within the party. Now that I have been assigned with such an important position in the party, I have no political aspiration.

Simon Busuttil speaks about high political standards but then failed to impress in the Samuel Azzopardi’s case. Why didn’t he take action there but then accepted Giovanna Debono’s resignation even though the case is still not concluded?

Dr Busuttil has passed so many tests that, how I see it, the government atrocities cannot be compared with the case of a person who had one glass too many and admitted to the charges. I believe Dr Busuttil has the human sense to realize the difference in grievousness between such a case and the government’s scandals.  

The cases are simply incomparable. From a human point of view, it would be very irresponsible if we lose any sense of proportion. I believe that Simon Busuttil did not fall into the trap. The thing is, people expect a certain standard from Simon Busuttil but do not expect any standards from Joseph Muscat.