The Labour Party yesterday accused the government of being incapable of keeping party politics separate as it steamrolls over its political adversaries and critics.
The government's partisanship was so blatant that it was now even adopting the same slogans adopted by the Nationalist Party, MLP deputy leader Michael Falzon told a news conference. He was referring to the slogan "biex int tghix ahjar" (for you to live better), which was being used to publicise government projects.
"We were promised a new way of doing politics, but we're still being treated to the same arrogance and partisanship," Dr Falzon told journalists outside the Department of Information in Valletta.
Flanked by party president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi and Labour MP Helena Dalli, Dr Falzon tore into the Nationalist government, accusing it of failing on all fronts.
He said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi summed up the Nationalist government last week when he told supporters to ignore the public's complaints and protests.
Dr Falzon said the government was even adopting an insolent tone with those who dared criticise it - naming the Ombudsman, the Electoral Commission and the Auditor General as examples. Such tactics were dangerous in a democratic country, he said.
The government is trying to keep such a tight hold over everything that chairmen of several of its own entities were now even resigning from their posts, Dr Falzon said.
Even more shameful was that the government had openly expressed itself in favour of the golf course and the waste recycling plant, to exert pressure on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, which was supposedly autonomous.
Dr Falzon said it was shameful that an official 50th anniversary DOI publication had opted to omit pictures of Labour prime ministers, but he was evasive when asked whether he believed the DOI was balanced during the Labour regime.
"The 1980s were not perfect, but neither were the 1990s or the years which followed. Ultimately, it's the Labour Party which has expressed solidarity along the years."
Ms Dalli spoke about the Public Broadcasting Services, claiming that jobs were being farmed out to people close to the Nationalist Party.