Although the General Elections in Malta might still be a couple of years away, it is never too early for all interested parties to start preparing for them.
A few days ago, a new executive within the MZPN (Moviment Zghazagh Partit Nazzjonalista) was elected and The Third Eye conducted an interview with newly elected President, Mark Grech, who up to a couple of years ago, was highly involved in student politics on behalf of SDM (Studenti Demorkistjani Maltin).
1. Mark, last Wednesday you were elected as the President of MZPN. How do you feel about this?
The great feedback which I have received and am still receiving makes me excited about the times ahead.We are in for a huge challenge which will require our 100% commitment, and I am also expecting things to get better because people do believe in us and they are expecting us to deliver – something which I’m sure that we will do.
2. Up to a few years ago, you were greatly involved in student politics, both in University and also In Junior College. What made you take the next step to national politics?
Over the past few weeks, I had been repeatedly approached by various individuals at all levels within the PN, who all urged me to consider running for the top post in the youth faction of the Nationalist Party. I was a bit apprehensive at first, and hesitated to go for it straight away, since I am well aware what dedication and determination is required for one to be successful in this role.I therefore had to be sure that I was ready to take on this challenge of making the PN the natural choice for youths again, as it had always been, especially considering the track record and achievements in education.However I was then encouraged also by my time in SDM, which not only helped build up my character and skills, but also gave me enough strength and knowledge to take on any challenge. We were then a team who worked so well together in those days. Hence, we are now ready to utilise our knowledge and experience from our time at University to contribute at the level of national politics.
3. What is, in your opinion, the most lacking key feature within the Nationalist Party?
I feel that as the years passed by, with the Nationalist Party being granted successive terms in government, there was an element of disengagement with the people. We must communicate better with society as after all, we are there to serve – nothing more and nothing less. Having said this, it is primarily our job to listen attentively to what the people out there really want and act upon such needs, but not in a populist way. We have our guiding principles, and these must be explained in an ongoing manner, while always heeding the sensitivities and the interests of all sectors of our society.
4. How do you intend to tackle this?
The Nationalist Party leader, Dr Simon Busuttil, has embarked on a reach-out policy and is really taking the bull by the horns, hence managing to address and diminish this negative aspect. I think that we should continue to complement the good work that is being done, and aim at involving more and more people in the best way possible. Regaining full strength and regaining that lost touch can only be achieved by roping in people, and making sure that they feel, and are, at home within the Nationalist Party.
5. Do you believe that the young generation belongs to the Nationalist Party, which is sometimes attributed with conservatism?
Conservatism is a very unfair label to attribute to the Nationalist Party, which was always at the forefront when it came to introducing many radical changes to our society. Yes, admittedly there were certain issues where the PN was perceived as being conservative, but I tend to attribute that more to lack of proper communication and interaction than to conservatism per se.
The current government is known to have the skill to deceive people and to depict itself as an agent of change, and always managing to disguise the thorns among the flowers. The PN sees that and obviously reacts and resists the thorns, but the Labour propaganda machine adroitly manages to spin that and attribute the other tag ’negativity’ to that. Young people tend to be more sceptical of what the government propaganda machine dishes out, and we shall make sure that everything is explained properly and that the overlying layers sweetening certain bitter pills the government is pushing are explained and pulled away to expose the dark reality beneath.
We want to reestablish the PN as the natural choice when it comes to youths, and indeed for all sectors of the population. The Nationalist Party is privileged to have hundreds of people of different views and different ideologies within its ranks, but the difference is that we do not flaunt their individual traits to show how open and representative we are. We hold true to our principle of being open to everybody as a whole individual, and not as a ’trait’ to be exploited at the expense of the whole person. That is not conservatism.
6. What is in your ideology the most important value in the world of politics?
Honesty – definitely honesty. Unfortunately, we are living during times when this has become really lacking in the administration of our country. We are being plagued by daily scandals, each of manifests the direct involvement of people in government. This has to end, as we believe that the politician serves society and not the other way round. The basic difference between the PN and the PL is that the PN would never give a standing ovation to anybody within its ranks who has been involved in scandals of the magnitude of the Gaffarena affair. However, perhaps the best measure of honesty, or rather the lack of it, which we have been regaled with was the farcical video produced (at considerable public expense) by the office of the prime Minister.We had the PM himself using the occasion of a New Year’s Greetings message to cook up a false scenario in an inexistent kitchen with factuality being sacrificed for fakeness.
