PN leader Alex Borg has announced a series of sweeping changes to the party’s internal structure, including the creation of a new “leadership delivery office” tasked with ensuring that promises made by the party are delivered.

Speaking in Valletta on Thursday evening, Borg presented four new appointments he described as “crucial” for the party’s renewal and its preparation for the next general election. Chief among these is engineer Simon Mizzi, who will chair the newly created delivery office. Borg explained that this role will be dedicated to keeping the leader and the party on track with commitments and pledges. Mizzi, who tragically lost his young son Noah earlier this year, was described as someone who can bring discipline and determination to the role.

For the first time in its history, the PN will also have a chief executive officer – one of his leadership campaign pledges. Borg confirmed that property and commercial lawyer Sabine Agius Cabourdin will take on the new post. Agius Cabourdin has a background in asset management and philanthropy, having founded the Fidem Foundation in 2018 to support vulnerable women through education and mentorship. She holds dual Maltese and French citizenship and, Borg said, was chosen after he reflected on the lack of women in political leadership during a recent meeting with Prime Minister Robert Abela at the Labour Party headquarters. “When I saw the photo of everyone sitting around the table, I noticed we were all men. At that point I decided the new CEO should be a woman,” Borg said.

The PN’s campaign manager will be Simon Vella Gregory, who previously served as the party’s communications coordinator before stepping down in 2022. Borg said his appointment would ensure the party was prepared, strong, and united going into the next election. Munxar mayor and auditor Damien Spiteri will serve as head of Borg’s secretariat.

The announcements came at the end of a Q&A session with youths at Triton Square, held as part of Independence Day celebrations. Young people pressed the Opposition leader on a wide range of issues, from mental health to village feasts, with Borg responding that he was proud to see so many young people engaged. “This is proof that the PN is once again the natural home of youths. We will work to make the party alive, dynamic and youthful,” he said.

Throughout the session, Borg reiterated a number of his campaign pledges, including reopening a trade school, raising healthcare student stipends to the equivalent of the national minimum wage, appointing a shadow minister for loneliness, and creating a sports ministry if elected to government. He also pointed to what he described as his first parliamentary victory as Opposition leader, after the PN succeeded in forcing an urgent debate on the National Audit Office’s findings about the transfer of public land to the Fortina Hotel. While the Speaker had initially ruled the debate was not urgent, the government later conceded and allowed it to take place. Borg has since demanded both a public inquiry and a police investigation into the case.

What do make of these changes?