Nationalist Party leader Alex Borg has pledged to resign if a PN government fails to deliver an operational metro line within its first five years in office, making one of the boldest commitments of the election campaign during a debate that Prime Minister Robert Abela chose not to attend.
Speaking during Il-Każin x Times of Malta on Monday evening, Borg said he was willing to stake his political future on the PN's proposed €1.4 billion metro project linking the airport to Pembroke.
"If I don't complete an operational line in the first five years, I'll resign," Borg said when pressed by hosts Jon Mallia and Mark Laurence Zammit. "That's how sure I am of our team of experts and our plan."
The proposed metro line would stretch 11.5 kilometres and be free for residents. Borg insisted the ambitious timeframe was realistic despite scepticism surrounding procurement, planning and construction delays.
The debate itself was overshadowed by Abela's absence. The Labour leader declined an invitation to participate, leaving Borg to face questions alone from the hosts and audience members. Throughout the programme, the presenters also referred to questions they would have put to Abela had he attended.
The metro proposal remains one of the PN's flagship pledges. Borg dismissed suggestions that the party should prioritise smaller traffic solutions first, including a proposal by Momentum to use Y-Plate taxis for shared low-cost rides.
"It's a positive idea, but I have a clear commitment to the metro," he said. "We need alternatives to cars."
Borg also revealed that the PN's electoral programme would cost €6.7 billion over five years, slightly more than the €6.3 billion figure quoted by Labour for its own pledges. Both parties are promising tax cuts, pension increases and major infrastructure projects, though they differ sharply on transport policy.
While Labour is proposing a 15-year €2.8 billion light rail system, the PN is promising a faster and more expensive underground metro project alongside new schools, hospitals and an offshore fuel hub.
Pressed repeatedly on how the PN would finance its proposals, Borg pointed to new economic sectors the party intends to develop, while brushing aside questions about contingency plans if projected growth fails to materialise.
"It's planned and doable," he insisted.
The PN leader also attempted to strengthen his reformist credentials by promising changes to political party financing rules and greater transparency in government.
Borg admitted the PN's media arm, Media.Link, had failed to publish accounts for decades, but said the process to release them had started. He revealed the PN's total debt stood at around €32 million, €11 million of which belongs directly to the party.
He also backed reforms to strengthen freedom of information laws, including removing the prime minister's veto power over FOI requests, introducing a transparency register for ministers and making MPs full-time.
On migration and development, Borg acknowledged Malta would still require foreign workers but argued the country needed "sustainable development" and revised local plans. He also conceded he may have "slipped up" when previously miscalculating the cost of a PN housing proposal for first-time buyers.
Borg additionally stood by controversial remarks opposing the construction of another mosque in Malta.
"We have a mosque in Paola. One is enough," he said, stressing the PN's Christian democratic identity.
Closing the programme, Borg sought to draw a contrast with Labour's campaign style and with Abela's decision not to participate.
"We focused on a clean campaign, without mudslinging and focused solely on the future," he said. "I am so convinced of our commitments that I've put my political career on the line for them."