[WATCH] Claudio Grech makes pitch for an end to tribal talk in politics

Reno Bugeja Jistaqsi S01E05 Claudio Grech

The Nationalist MP Claudio Grech has kicked back at suggestions that Opposition leader Bernard Grech’s reshuffle had been a “failure” that resulted in little change in the PN parliamentary group.

Interviewed on Reno Bugeja Jistaqsi, Grech even refused to be considered to be part of a “conservative faction” inside the PN. “I am part of the Nationalist Party, a party that is built on social justice and the respect for life,” he said. “This does not mean I’m part of some extreme faction… it’s fiction.”

Grech defended his foundation’s mission in funding a pro-life movement that supports women who are considering abortion or suffering from the trauma of abortion, saying both the PL and PN were declaredly against abortion. “Nothing stops anyone inside the PN from discussing this issue.”

Grech, now responsible for the PN’s policy transformation, made it clear that his new role was not something he would carry out on his own.

Grech said the party had some 100 different individuals working in various working groups on 14 different policies, who had to come up with a blueprint for new vision for the PN.

He said the people were discarding the tribalism of Maltese politics, but refuted comparisons to Joseph Muscat’s own words when Labour was in opposition. “Muscat’s politics were simply based on an economic growth whose roots were those of cheap labour,” Grech said, latching on to the problem of people at risk of poverty due to the widening gap between haves and have-nots.

Grech agreed that the PN could not just think of its own traditional voter base when pointed out by Bugeja that this low-income demographic was traditionally not a PN voter.

Grech was also supportive of a continued discussion on introducing a living wage, despite claims by finance minister Clyde Caruana that such a proposal would be unfeasible. Grech pointed out that the minimum wage was not in line with the median wage that existed in the country. “We cannot not take note of this harsh reality.”

Grech said he wanted the PN to be seen as a “common sense” party that was not ashamed of its pass, but had to think of new issues as well as to renew the party with a new generation of politicians. “My appeal to the party is to bring in new blood and youth,” Grech said.

He even said that the criticism over Labour’s appointment of a 19-year-old local councillor to the board of a government-financed investment promotion lobby, Finance Malta, first pointed out by Nationalist MP David Thake, had been wrong. “Without entering into the merits of his appointment surely the criticism should not be based on the age factor,” Grech said.

Grech denied that Thake had been ‘demoted’ from his environmental portfolio for having taken a stand against hunting, saying Thake retained an important role on Green Deal politics. “I think there should be more convergence between the two political parties on more issues, such as a carbon neutral society and the financing of the health sector. This is the only way forward for the country,” he said.