WATCH | Alex Borg vows mass transit route in five years

Opposition Leader Alex Borg has pledged that the first route of a mass transit system would be up and running within five years if he’s elected prime minister.

Borg made the ambitious pledge during an interview on TVM’s Xtra with Saviour Balzan. 

The PN leader said his party has already carried out studies on mass transport options and committed to starting work on a new transport system within his first 100 days as prime minister. 

Within the first legislature, he plans to have the first route of this system ready and functioning for public use. He did not mention further details on the type of transport system that the PN would opt for.

No talks on new auditor general

During the interview, Borg also revealed that the prime minister has yet to call on him to discuss the who could be appointed the next auditor general. 

Charles Deguara’s term as auditor general ends next week. Yesterday, the government and Opposition approved constitutional amendments that will allow Deguara to stay in the role until they decide on a successor. 

Before these amendments were passed, the position would have become vacant if the two parties failed to agree on a replacement. 

Borg said it was an act of goodwill for the Nationalist Party to vote in favour of these amendments knowing the government has not reached out to start discussing a successor. 

PN the real underdog

Prime Minister Robert Abela often says Labour is the political underdog, but Borg said it’s actually the PN that is seen as the weaker party. 

He said the PN doesn’t have the resources that Labour does in government, particularly control over public broadcasting and generous advertising budgets. 

However, Borg believes the PN is making inroads. He said he’s spoken to genuine socialists and Labourites who are unhappy with the Labour Party today, mentioning also Judge Wenzu Mintoff, who was once a Labour MP, and his damning accusations towards Robert Abela revealed in a leaked letter. 

He also described recent discussion he had with someone who was upset with the Labour Party. “He told me: ‘You text them and try to talk to them but they don’t listen. They don’t lend an ear.’ That’s the reality out there,” Borg said. 

No need for early election

Borg said that he has been preparing the party for an election ever since he was elected party leader in September 2025. 
While he feels that the prime minister has been making statements that suggest an early election, Borg said there is no proper reason to call an election early. 

He said that, if he were in the prime minister’s position, his priority would be to ensure stability amid global tensions. Elections bring an element of uncertainty, he said. 

Regardless, he said the PN is ready in case an election is called early. He also believes that the PN will get stronger as time passes. 

He said the party is still meeting people who could go on to contest the election on the PN ticket, with more candidates to be announced in the coming weeks. 

Borg also said he has full trust in Adrian Delia, who serves as the PN’s finance spokesperson. Meanwhile, he cast doubt on Finance Minister Clyde Caruana’s credibility.

“Clyde Caruana was the person who led Jobsplus and who chose, alongside Joseph Muscat, to base our economic growth on foreign labour imports,” he said. 

Borg said the country’s finances would be in good hands under a PN government because it would cut down on excessive public spending.

He mentioned the €4.5 million allocated for Malta Vision 2050 and criticised the opening launch spectacle, which did not focus much on the proposals being put forward as part of the vistion. 

Malta’s only national park is covered in gravel

Borg also criticised the government for focusing only on short-term gains. 

He pointed out that the same day the Opposition tried tabling a bill in parliament to make the environment a constitutional right, the environment minister published a green paper hours before a parliamentary discussion on the matter. “We’ve heard nothing about that green paper ever since,” he said. 

He also mentioned that the government wanted to make ‘enjoyment of hobbies’ a constitutional right, but that was never followed up on. 

Borg also accused the government of using national park pledges as propaganda. “The only national park we have right now is in Ta’ Qali and covered in gravel,” he said. 

A PN in government would create a legal framework that defines what a national park is, so that any future government would not be able to throw the term around as it wishes.