Alex Borg hints wording of PN's constitutional bill could have been improved

Alex Borg defended the Nationalist Party’s proposal to include the right to a sustainable environment in the Constitution but indirectly acknowledged its wording could have been improved.

The PN leader accused the Labour Party of scaremongering to justify its opposition to the proposal but emphasised that had the motion passed it could have still been amended at committee stage.

“The law would have gone to committee stage where it could have been amended to make it better,” Borg said, insisting the PN had the environment at heart.

Borg was speaking on Sunday, during a political activity in Nadur, days after the PN faced unlikely opposition from several organisations and lobby groups that expressed concern over the bill’s wording.

Last Thursday, a private member’s bill put forward by the Opposition to amend the Constitution and include the right to a healthy and sustainable environment was voted down after the government came out against.

Labour MPs justified their opposition on the premise that the wording of the bill was too open and would endanger traditional hobbies such as hunting, festas and sports activities like motorsports.

But Borg accused ministers and their aides of carrying out a scaremongering campaign by calling and messaging different groups to foment opposition to the PN motion.

“The Labour Party started its attack by carrying out a whispering campaign; this is the state we are in,” Borg told supporters, emphasising that had the bill passed Second Reading stage it could have been amended to better reflect concerns.

Referring to the MaltaToday survey published today, Borg said it showed that young people were gravitating back to the PN. The survey results suggest that for the first time in many years, the PN is stronger than the PL among those aged under-35.

However, Borg cautioned that surveys are just a snapshot. “We cannot take the results for granted and we have to continue working to convince those who do not want to vote,” he said, adding that he was determined to give the people “a party of the nation where no one is left behind”.

At the tail end of the event, Borg thanked Chris Said, who was made spokesperson for Gozo once again. Said could not make it on Sunday because he is abroad.

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