New PN leader will find party with finances in order - Busuttil

Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil has said that his successor will inherit a party with its finances in order and could now stand on its own two feet

Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil
Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil

Speaking during an brief interview on NET TV, Busuttil said that though many were disappointed with the PN’s electoral loss, many were satisfied with the party’s campaign and the it organised itself in the last months.

“From financial point of view, today we are in a well organised state,” said Busuttil, had already been in a position to publish its campaign expenditure, which amounted to some €1.3 million.  

“More important than the cost was the fact that we collected all the money for the campaign, that we everything paid for everything and we have not borrowed 1c,” said Busuttil.

Moreover, he said the PN had managed to restructure its debt, which it was now paying off in monthly instalments.

“The new leadership will find an engine that has already started and that is working well,” added Busuttil.

On the Marriage Equality bill being debated in parliament Busuttil reiterated that the PN would be voting in favour.

“This is a very sensitive issue for the PN, and we are conscious of the fact that not everyone accepts this,” he explained, adding that the party had its reasons for the decision. ]

“Today we know that in our society we have certain realities,” he said. ”The gay community not only demands but deserves to have these rights.”

In addition to this, he said that the 2014 civil union law had already gaving the rights and obligations conferred by marriage.

Guests at a civil union celebration did not feel like it was different to any other wedding, he added. Moreover, the proposal had been included in the PN’s manifesto before the election he insisted.

Finally, turning to the PN leadership race, Busuttil said the party’s general council would be meeting to discuss and approve the system by which the new leader will be elected.

He said that the process will be divided into two “levels”. First, nominees will submit their names to the party, with two ultimately being selected through a vote among the members of the 1,200 or so members of the general council.

Next, 50,000 or so paid-up party members would select the leader through another vote.

This, he said, would allow for an organised, fair and transparent process that would leave the decision in the hands of the many rather than the few.