'A third EP seat would be a win for us' - Busuttil

PN stance on gay adoptions - Video: Ray Attard

Nationalist leader Simon Busuttil this morning reiterated that his party was working towards electing three MEPs for the first time, adding that realistically it would be 'impossible' to recover the 36,000 votes majority in just one year. 

Despite the fact that parties in opposition always fared very well in the previous European Parliament elections due to the popular protest vote, Busuttil played it down and said that one should be realistic. 

"It is very difficult - if not impossible - to gain back 36,000 votes. Thus, we are not looking to recover the deficit with the Labour Party in terms of votes but in terms of seats. During the years we have seen that two PN MEPs always worked more than 4 Labour MEPs, so imagine how much more can we work if we had the third seat for the first time in ten years," Simon Busuttil said. 

Busuttil remarked that he was not interested in using terms such as 'underdogs' but said that the electorate had the chance to speak through their vote about the government's first year.

"The electorate can judge the government's performance through their vote," he added. 

Asked whether the party has decided on an official position on civil unions, Busuttil noted the question did not correspond to the subject of the press conference but said its parliamentary group still had to decide on the issue, underlining that in cases of gay adoption the children's interest will be the main priority when an official position is taken. 

Simon Busuttil was addressing the media during Roberta Metsola's campaign launch, where an overview of the Nationalist MEPs work during the past legislature was also outlined. 

Saying it was a special occasion for him since it was Metsola who inherited his EP seat last year, he underlined that there was the perception that Metsola worked for years in the institution but in reality she achieved all this in just 11 months. 

"Her competence and expertise in EU affairs made it possible for her to hit the ground running when she was elected last year. She showed her competence and dedication on several issues, including the IIP debate where her work proved to be a success."

Meanwhile, Roberta Metsola gave an overview of her main involvement in the European Parliament and said that her initiatives were always people-oriented and spurred by the Maltese citizens' needs.

“You cannot serve as an MEP and do not have continuous meetings with your electorate. For instance, I was asked to intervene on behalf of hundreds of Marsaxlokk residents who were concerned with the gas storage, and I did. Regardless of partisan politics they wanted piece of mind about their own safety, hence I presented a petition in the EP on their behalf,”Metsola underlined.

The 35-year old MEP highlighted how she made around 200 interventions in the European Parliament on jobs creation, SMEs, safeguarding of environment, consumer protection, immigration and healthcare.

Metsola, who is the outright favourite to keep her EP seat in the upcoming May elections, was also chosen to present four EP reports about asylum and represented the EPP on another two reports.

“During these 11 months I also presented 65 Parliamentary Questions which revolved around discrimination, female rights and media amongst others. I also met with 75 NGOs and participated in around 35 seminars and conferences as part of my commitment to keep in touch with civil society,” Metsola added.