Clyde Puli applauds PN’s ‘highest ever membership in 13 years’

The Nationalist Party saw its membership base increase by 1,700 new members last year, Clyde Puli has told his party’s councillors.

Flagging this as an achievement, Puli said the PN had the highest number of members in 13 years.

The secretary general said this at Tuesday’s session of the PN general council that is meeting this week with the theme, Together for Our Country.

“This last year saw us work to strengthen the party structures to become better organised, present proposals, and laying down strong foundations for an alternative government,” Puli said.

He said the PN was becoming a “young party” with a political vision and offering strong opposition to the government.

The party’s finances were put on a more sustainable footing with record sums collected during the various marathons held throughout the year, he added.

Turning to hardball politics, Puli said the PN had kept the government under scrutiny and acted as “the people’s voice” in Parliament.

He said this was also evident with the court cases instituted by Opposition leader Adrian Delia against the government to cancel the privatisation contract for three public hospitals and the case to obtain the full Egrant inquiry.

Puli said the PN had also put forward 80 proposals to reform local councils, a pre-budget document with economic and fiscal proposals and other proposals in different areas.

PN deputy leader Robert Arrigo

Tuesday’s session was also addressed by PN deputy leader Robert Arrigo, who said the PN was preparing itself “in the best way possible” to face the electoral challenges next May.

Malta votes to elect its MEPs on 25 May, the same day that elections will be held to elect councils in all localities. The general council comes at a time when polls show the PN trailing the PL by a large margin.

Arrigo insisted that the funds the party received came from supporters, volunteers and members. “The party bought its assets, unlike the Labour Party that stole them from the people as was the case of Australia Hall and Raffles, from where it would be gaining €600,000 per year,” he said.

The PN general council started last Sunday in Gozo and will end on Sunday with PN leader Adrian Delia delivering the closing speech.