The Nationalist Party is going to have a challenging road ahead.

Having just lost an election by a massive landslide margin, being €32 million in debt, seeing just one person submit their nomination for deputy leadership… it’s going to be a struggle.

PN Leader Bernard Grech has no time to waste. He must, from now, start tackling the problems the party has, and he cannot tackle them one at a time either. There is no time for that, as the next electoral test – the EU and local council elections, are just two years away.

He needs to sort out the party’s finances. He needs the party to reconnect with the voter base. These are the two major points that he must tackle.

In an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday,  PN secretary general Michael Piccinino made some revelations which indicate that the party is already working to solve some of its issues.

He said that a plan will be put forward to the Media.Link board for approval, which will then be sent to the Party’s administrative arm, so that in the 14 months to come the media company would, operationally, break even. As such, he said, it would not continue losing money, and while the Party media would remain in place, the Party will improve it "and ensure that it does not continue to add on to the Party’s financial problems”.

This is one step. He also said that Grech will set up a group of experts to see how the Party can tackle the issue of debt globally. Among the things the party has planned is the better utilisation of its properties for commercial purposes. One needs to wait and see what kind of impact this will all have on the party’s finances.

In terms of the political aspect, Piccinino seemed adamant that the work needs to start now. So, it seems, the PN is going to start running on trying to sort out its issues.

But one major issue, that of clicking with the voter base, will probably be its biggest challenge. The party now has new MPs… but it still lost the election by a landslide. These new MPs have yet to prove themselves, and so their work over the next year or two will likely have an impact on how voters will perceive the party.

What is sure, is that the party has no time to waste. Piccinino said that the party should use the summer for internal reflection and review, and he is right. The party needs to figure out why there is such a disconnect with the voters, as if it does not solve this problem… then it will not stand a chance.