Busuttil wins, says contest rekindled enthusiasm in the PN

Updated 10.50 p.m. New PN Deputy Leader Simon Busuttil said this evening that the deputy leadership election had served to rekindle interest and enthusiasm in the Nationalist Party. Speaking soon after beating Finance Minister Tonio Fenech at the first hurdle with 72.4% of the vote, Dr Busuttil said he would do everything possible to repay the confidence shown in him by the party councillors. He also paid tribute to the previous holders of the post during his lifetime, Censu Tabone, Guido de Marco, Lawrence Gonzi and Tonio Borg. He also praised Louis Galea for the social vision he had instilled in him, and Eddie Fenech Adami for his vision of European Malta. Dr Busuttil said he would work alongside Lawrence Gonzi for the PN to win the forthcoming general election. The party, he said, needed to regain the people’s confidence. It needed to seek out those who had distanced themselves from the party or felt sidelined from it. The PN, he said, was not the party of the councillors, but the party of the people. It had its doors open to everyone. It listened to everyone, it was a popular, not populist party. It was a party built on unity in diversity. Dr Busuttil   urged the councillors...