[WATCH] Busuttil says he’s broken perception of a 10-year opposition

PN leader says his party has already walked half the road towards presenting itself as an alternative government for the next elections

Simon Busuttil: the PN has been given renewed courage to face the next elections
Simon Busuttil: the PN has been given renewed courage to face the next elections
Simon Busuttil says PN has new energy to face general elections

A reinvigorated Simon Busuttil has declared that the Nationalist Party will be match-fit for the next general elections, giving him a clear shot at being the next prime minister.

Busuttil, whose party made various inroads in the local council elections despite losing to Labour’s 53% majority, said he had broken the perception that the Nationalists were condemned “to 10 years in Opposition”.

“We have managed to walk half the journey in two years… we can reach our destination within the next three years. Psychologically, for us as a party and the people out there, it makes you think you have a chance,” he said on Net TV’s Iswed fuq l-Abjad, presented by Frank Psaila.

“People who had written us off have changed their minds. Maybe they did not know me well enough, but I am a determined individual, and I think this was a very clear message.”

He said the PN will present electoral proposals that will offer a quality leap, and that will show the party has not wasted its time in Opposition. “We’ll offer a choice between Muscat’s five years and an Opposition that can be an alternative government.”

Busuttil accused the prime minister of having not kept his promise of accountability, meritocracy, and transparency. “The difference between us is honesty. Muscat cannot build on the foundation of honesty. I say things as I see and feel them to be. I won’t something just so you can like me. When you build your politics on honesty, it takes time, but you build strong foundations.”  

Busuttil will face Joseph Muscat in a debate on PBS’s Dissett on Thursday. “I expect our uphill road to only get steeper… expect more attacks against us now that the prime minister has seen us come this way.”

The PN leader said his party had run half a marathon that had filled it with new energy. “I’ve always believed the PN could make it. Otherwise I would not have taken up this responsibility.”

Busuttil said the PN had managed to stop the haemorrhage of support in the south, where his party normalised support in towns like Birzebbugia, Marsaxlokk and Kirkop. But he attributed part of the PN’s deep losses in Gozo to Muscat’s commitment to the ‘yes’ vote in the spring hunting referendum. “Gozo had the highest percentage of people voting for hunting in the referendum. Muscat’s campaign may have been an element… but it’s not just that. The PN has to work harder in Gozo and I will not lose heart. The island has always been a Nationalist fortress and I want to get back on its feet there.”