Michael Piccinino, a Nationalist Party MP and the Shadow Minister for the Self-Employed, Small Enterprises and Cooperatives, has said the PN cannot simply assume that small business owners will believe its approach would differ from that of the Labour government, insisting the party must show concretely what it would do differently once it puts forward its proposals.

Piccinino, one of the party's new MPs, served as PN Secretary General for close to four years before stepping back from the role ahead of the last general election to contest for a parliamentary seat.

Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday in an interview, he said that switching from a party-wide organisational role to a single policy brief, has been one of the biggest adjustments of his political career so far.

Asked how the transition compared with his previous post, Piccinino said the two jobs were "very different" from one another.

As secretary general, he explained, he had a broader, more global view of the party, whereas as a candidate, and now an MP, he was dealing with more specific areas - in his case, the SME brief and his district.

He described the role of an MP as more "front facing", involving direct contact with people and hearing their concerns first-hand, and said that while he preferred that side of politics, the strategic thinking required of a secretary general was "beautiful work" in its own right. He added that the secretary general's job had effectively been a round-the-clock commitment, whereas being an MP, who is not a minister, meant balancing constant contact with constituents alongside other duties.

He also noted that, following the party's electoral progress, there is now greater responsibility to ensure his messaging is clear and coherent, as more people are paying attention.

On his working relationship with party leader Alex Borg, Piccinino said he had encountered no difficulty in taking direction from the leader's office, adding that he understood and respected that someone else's job was to make those decisions. He said his experience as secretary general gave him a broader perspective, since occupying that position meant looking at the "bigger picture" rather than only his own specific area of responsibility.

Turning to his district work, Piccinino, who was elected on the fourth district, said every locality has its own particular issues that needed to be addressed alongside the bigger national questions, and that focusing solely on the larger issues would be a mistake.

He said that upon his election he had made a point of meeting every local council in his district, regardless of political affiliation, arguing that all councils ultimately want to see improvements for their communities even where there are differences over how best to achieve them. As examples of local work, he pointed to raising the issue of parking in Santa Luċija through parliamentary questions, and to checking in daily with residents affected by recent prolonged power cuts, during which he also contacted Enemalta directly on their behalf.

Asked what he considered the biggest problem currently facing the self-employed and small enterprises that the government is failing to address, Piccinino pointed to bureaucracy and barriers to entry, arguing that small operators have limited resources to deal with red tape. He also referred to findings in the SME barometer showing rising levels of what he described as unfair competition being felt directly by small enterprises.

On the costed proposals he intends to put forward as Shadow Minister, Piccinino said work was already under way and consultations with social partners were ongoing, but stressed that it would be premature to announce specific measures at this stage. He noted that he has held the shadow portfolio for only two months and said any proposals put forward would need to directly address the problems small businesses are facing.

Pressed on why a small business owner should believe the PN's approach would differ from Labour's, given that concerns over bureaucracy, red tape and access to credit have persisted under governments of both colours for years, Piccinino said the party could not assume it had any automatic right to be believed.

He said the PN needs to show, through the proposals it puts forward, concrete ways in which it would do things differently from the government of the day.

Asked whether his portfolio amounted to a strong mandate or a smaller seat at the table compared with Darren Carabott's economy brief, Piccinino said it was ultimately about what one makes of a role.

He noted that 99% of businesses in Malta are SMEs, describing them as the backbone of the economy, and said the PN had long placed particular emphasis on the sector. He recalled that the pre-2013 government had been criticised for having a small number of ministries, arguing that the pendulum had since swung to the other extreme, but said there had always been a role within the party dedicated to representing SMEs.

He argued that the government too often focuses on figures on paper rather than the realities faced by business owners, stressing that Maltese entrepreneurs who invest their own money to create jobs and support their families deserve greater attention.

Second part of interview will be published tomorrow