PN Leader Alex Borg has announced the names of people who will be appointed to a number of party roles.
Speaking on Thursday during an Q&A session in Triton Square in Valletta, Borg said that Sabine Agius Cabourdin will be appointed CEO of the PN, a new role within the party.
While campaigning for the PN leadership post, Borg had announced such a role, and that the CEO would take over the financial aspects of the party, and whose role would also be to maximise the income from the party's assets.
He said that Agius Cabourdin is a commercial lawyer, a person who has had a career in asset management. She had established the FIDEM Foundation in 2018.
He said that he made the appointment after noticing that there were only men around the table during his recent meeting with Prime Minister Robert Abela, and decided that the new CEO should be a woman.
Borg also said that Simon Vella Gregory will be appointed the party's campaign manager. Vella Gregory had previously served as the PN's Communications Coordinator, having resigned in 2022 after around a year in the position.
Munxar mayor Damien Spiteri will be Head of the PN leader's Secretariat.
In addition, he said that Simon Mizzi will be appointed Chairperson of the leadership delivery office. This, Borg said, is a new office being created which will help keep the leader on track to deliver everything the PN promises. Mizzi is an engineer, he said. Mizzi had tragically lost his son, Noah, who drowned in a swimming pool earlier this year.
"These are crucial appointments for the party," Borg said. The PN leader said that these appointments will help unite and strengthen the Nationalist Party, put it on the map around the country, and put it in a position to win.
"We are prepared to be the party for all Maltese and Gozitans," Borg said.
Borg also announced the creation of a Youth Think Tank that will be run by the party's youth branches - MŻPN and Team Start. He stated that through this Youth Think Tank, the party will build its vision for youths across the Maltese islands by meeting with stakeholders and other youths - "by youths and for youths," Borg noted.
The new Opposition leader also called on youths to be active changemakers within the country, and not just spectating passersby to their surroundings. He pledged to remain side by side with youths in his leadership role and said that he will try to keep in contact with youths, rather than expect young people to reach out to him.
All this was announced during a PN activity on Thursday evening, which is part of the party's set of activities to commemorate Malta's independence this weekend. During this activity, newly elected PN leader Alex Borg hosted a Q&A session where he invited youths to discuss several matters with him. The subjects discussed during this activity were the education sector; mental health; the controversial planning bills in relation to the Maltese natural environment being further encroached upon; challenges for Gozo and Gozitan workers; post-secondary students' struggles to balance their studies, hobbies and quality time; and issues in volunteering and supporting sports and feast culture.
Borg pledges to open trade school, construct 'state-of-the-art' mental health hospital, and have dedicated Sports Ministry
During this Q&A session, Borg made a series of pledges for measures he would implement across the various discussed sectors were he to be elected Prime Minister.
The first promise he announced during this Q&A was for the country to open a trade school where different types of crafts can be taught. Borg remarked that Malta used to have a trade school in the past, that it was successful, and that the time has come for the Maltese islands to have one once again.
Outlining his vision for this project, Borg shared his ambition to reduce the country's dependence on foreign labourers in certain sectors and, by opening a trade school, eventually prioritise these kinds of jobs to Maltese On this, he observed that not everyone is cut out to enrol for tertiary education at the University of Malta and that some people are more capable doing manual work.
In addition, he added that if the Nationalist Party is elected to government under his leadership, stipends for students studying for "jobs of national importance" within the health sector - namely carers, nurses, and healthcare practitioners - will increase to be equivalent to the national minimum wage. Borg said that this is another measure he intends to introduce, if elected to power, to lessen Malta's dependence on foreign workers within the healthcare sector.
He added that the education sector must evolve and for students to be prepared to handle the real world, and not just learn theory. To develop "tomorrow's generation" for the future, Borg believes that the education system must see investments towards digital education to promote digital literacy, as well as understand the issues and changing realities that educators come face-to-face with everyday on the job.
To support mental health across the Maltese islands, Alex Borg pledged that the Nationalist Party will construct a "state-of-the-art mental health hospital" to ensure that everyone has access to mental health services and professionals in their most difficult moments.
On this subject, Borg criticised how the incumbent administration had initially promised to construct such facilities, before eventually opting to develop two new mental health wards as part of an expansion of Mater Dei's emergency department which still has not yet been completed after several years of discussion.
Borg mentioned that the subjects of mental health and loneliness must be discussed "for no-one to be left behind and for us to have a just society." He said that the Maltese islands have "very big mental health problems" and that politicians must raise this issue in Parliament, on a national scale.
Hence, the PN leader shared that he will reshuffle the party's Shadow Cabinet and introduce a new role, Shadow Minister for Solitude, during this process.
Borg said that the PN parliamentary group will keep this discussion going in Parliament "to ensure that every industry and policy has mental health and care at heart." He said that in these discussions, PN MPs will work to promote preventative care, to prevent certain issues from arising before they do.
"We must see that we prevent illnesses from arising in our country, not just treat them," he said.
Borg observed that improving general mental health around the country can also be done by prioritising and protecting the limited natural environments left across Malta and Gozo. Additionally, he said that this could be done if the government acknowledges the private members' bill put forward by the Nationalist Party that aims to make the environment a constitutional right.
Shifting towards the environment, Borg, on behalf of the PN parliamentary group, pleaded for the government to retire the proposed planning bills, labelling them as "a regression to what we want to see in the country."
He said that the Nationalist Party will continue serving as a shield to the Maltese and Gozitan people on this subject, and commented that the Opposition seeks to find harmony between the environment and progress, "not clash them against one another as the government is doing; these can work together." In this regard, Borg said he passed his first test as PN leader this week by getting the government to discuss the recent Fortina scandal in Parliament, despite their initial reluctance. He also said that ODZ land should be respected and remained untouched.
Another pledge made on Thursday evening by Borg was that, if elected to govern, a PN government under his leadership will have a dedicated Ministry for Sport to ensure that this sector is well taken care of. This idea is carried forward from his predecessor, Bernard Grech, who had pledged to do so earlier this February.
Borg remarked that to better promote sports, "the education system should be re-engineered for sports to not just be seen as hobbies, but potentially even as future careers." He entertained the idea of introducing sports scholarships for student athletes to do this, as well as arts scholarships to support artists to make a living through their arts and culture.
For his home island of Gozo, Borg stated that he'll always remain close to his roots. He promised to pressure the government to acknowledge a report, published by PN MEP Peter Agius, that is pushing for Gozo to have a new, more environmentally friendly fleet of ships to improve commutes to and from Malta by using EU funds. He also referenced PN's setting up of a Gozo Policy Forum, which will work on the party's vision for Gozo - devised by Gozitans, for Gozitans.
He also promised to support the volunteering sector and feasts culture, which he called "part of our identity." He promised to support volunteering by providing funds to enable it to keep flourishing since experiencing a downturn in activity during the Covid-19 pandemic, promote volunteering through educational schemes, and tap into EU funds to help voluntary organisations.