Watch: Robert Musumeci Endorses Alex Borg As PN Leader, Says He Has Best Chance Of Making Inroads Into PL’s Majority
One of Malta’s most renowned political pundits, architect Robert Musumeci, has endorsed MP Alex Borg as a future leader of the Nationalist Party.
During a recent edition of TVM’s Ħadt l-Aħbar, Musumeci was asked to wade in on the state of the PN in the wake of a fresh wave of internal discontent at its leader Bernard Grech.
Presenter Glen Falzon gave him a choice of three new MPs who have regularly been touted internally as potential future leaders – Alex Borg, Mark Anthony Sammut and Darren Carabott.
Musumeci’s response was immediate – he would go for Borg, who he described as an “organic politician”.
“If the PN wants to try and make inroads into the PL’s territory, it needs someone like Alex Borg who understands the mentality of the people,” Musumeci explained. “He comes from Gozo, which is insular, but so is Malta insular by and large. Naturally, the fringes are different but the fringes alone aren’t enough to overturn the PN’s majority.”
“When we discuss what must happen within the PN, we must place it within the context of a PL which has changed Malta’s political landscape since the days of Joseph Muscat, with Robert Abela providing continuity.”
“The Labour Party resonates and connects with people and that is the recipe to win an election. Out of those three candidates, the PN should choose Alex Borg if it wants to slowly start making inroads.
Musumeci, a former PN mayor who defected to the Labour Party ahead of the 2013 election, warned that the party is still suffering from former leader Simon Busuttil’s attempts to implement a “continental European mentality”.
“Simon Busuttil is intelligent but he grew up in Europe and imported that mentality to this small, insular country which has its own culture. There was a conflict with the prevalent sentiment and the PN is currently experiencing the aftermath of those times.”
He warned that while the PN’s rhetoric may have resonated among academics, it didn’t do much to sway the man on the street.
“Adrian Delia tried to reverse this trend, but he was faced with so many obstacles and ended up having to leave.”
Borg received 6,100 first-count votes at last year’s general election, the first election he ever competed, a mere 300 behind Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri. A recent Lovin Malta poll has him as the third favourite politician for the PN leadership role, behind only European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and former PN MP Franco Debono.
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