'You can work with us': PN leader courts developers after MDA fallout
PN leader Alex Borg has made a direct pitch to construction industry figures, promising that a future Nationalist government would work with "anyone who has the ambition to create wealth for the country" – a clear appeal following tensions within the sector over the Labour government's affordable housing scheme.[1]
Speaking on the PN's television station on Sunday morning, Borg was responding to the resignation of three senior Malta Development Association (MDA) officials. The lobby group had decided to ask the European Commission to investigate what it alleged was a government affordable housing project that granted selective advantages to specific developers.[1]
Three prominent figures – Anton Camilleri, Pio Vassallo and Paul Attard – quit in protest, understood to be because they were among those bidding for the housing projects themselves.[1]
Borg accused Prime Minister Robert Abela of "fracturing the construction industry" by creating a "distorted, unlevel playing field" and choosing to work only with a "select few" favoured contractors.[1]
"A PN government will ensure a level playing field for all, less bureaucracy. You can work with us as long as you have the will to create wealth for the country and create quality jobs. We will work with you whoever you are. You can work with us."[1]
Borg described the situation as shocking and said it illustrated precisely what a PN government would seek to remedy.[1]
Tackling national debt and 'futile' spending
On Malta's spiralling national debt – which the NSO confirmed had reached a record €11.4 billion, with nearly €2.5 million in new borrowing every day throughout 2025 – Borg said the first step would be to stop wasting public money.[1]
He cited the government's 2050 Vision launch and metro project announcements as examples of "futile propaganda events and launches" that "led to nothing".[1]
"We will not waste money on futile propaganda events," Borg said.[1]
Electoral promises framed as 'Contract with the people'
Borg used the interview to frame the PN's electoral programme as a grassroots document, drawn up through months of consultations across the country rather than "by somebody sitting behind a desk".[1]
He defended the party's proposed Child Trust Fund – which would see the government deposit €5,000 into a savings account for every child born in Malta, accessible at age 18 for further education, starting a business or buying a first home – as "a costed and well-studied proposal" designed to give families breathing space and address Malta's declining birth rate.[1]
Four-day week and VAT cut proposals
On the party's four-day working week proposal, which has drawn cautious responses from employers and qualified support from unions, Borg defended having raised it as a way to create discussion and set the national agenda.[1]
He also took a sharp swipe at Finance Minister Clyde Caruana over VAT, accusing the government of a U-turn after it signalled openness to discussions about reducing VAT on catering establishments – a measure the PN had long proposed.[1]
"Whenever tax rates were reduced, government income increased in the immediate years. We will stand by businesses and family-run businesses and, unlike this government, will not treat them like thieves."[1]
Transport plans
On transport, Borg said a PN government would publish plans for a mass transit system within its first 100 days in office, with the main line completed within a single legislature.[1]