PN leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday that many of his party’s councillors are sick of seeing people use the PN for their own personal gain. 

During a telephone interview on NET TV, Grech said that it has never crossed his mind that a life in politics would be an easy one and that it was not easy to become a leader of a political party that has its own difficulties at that time. 

“I became leader of the PN during a very difficult time, since than we have taken different decisions some of which were difficult; we have managed to change but there is much more which needs to be done” he said. 

He added that in the time between his appointment as a PN leader and the latest general elections, there were many important decisions taken which guaranteed a sense of readiness for the general election. 

Grech said that “the next stage is to strengthen the finances of the party” so that it is not something that holds the party back from doing what is needed. 

He said that if the party continues to take such decisions it will not only be ready for the local council and MEP elections, but it will also be ready for the next general election. 

Speaking about his nomination for being reconfirmed as party leader, he said that he is working on another plan for the party that includes better organisation, more finances and the full functioning of the party’s organs” as these should not start to function just before the elections.” 

Grech revealed that he had spent the weekend meeting Nationalist party councillors in Gozo. He said that he would be using their feedback to improve his plans for the future of the party. 

Asked to comment on the feedback he is receiving, Grech said that “the feedback has been very positive, with many who spoke to me calling for more discipline. A lot of them have complained on individuals who are using the party for their personal gain.” 

Grech said that one can never have “good intentions” when they go public with their attacks on the party – a veiled reference to St. Julian’s mayor Albert Buttigieg, who recently penned an opinion piece accusing a party official accepting to sideline him in the general election upon orders of an unnamed big construction developer. 

Grech said that the PN is a party with a good history behind it and that whoever wants to help the party elevate itself should be allowed to do so, but whoever cannot continue to provide their services cannot go around tarnishing and destroying the party. 

Speaking about the first parliamentary week after the general election, he said that currently everyone is adapting to the new reality of an enlarged number of MPs as well as a number of new faces. He added that he is witnessing many new collaborations, which are going to guarantee a strong parliamentary group. 

Commenting on the speech given by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said that it has made him reflect on the commodities of life as “while we are here comfortable in parliament, he was virtually speaking from a place of war and much suffering as many people are being killed.”