Muscat calls for tougher action on migration, reiterates views on divorce

Labour leader Joseph Muscat has called for tougher political action by the government over illegal immigration.

In an interview due to be broadcast tomorrow to mark his first 100 days as Labour leader, he also confirmed his view that divorce should be a civil right which Malta should have.

He also said he would resign from the European Parliament on September 25.

When questioned about immigration, Dr Muscat said he was resisting all pressures for the MLP to seek political mileage from this issue. He said he was concerned about racist tendencies, as well as by the concerns of those who felt they were threatened by an influx of people from different cultures. While he understood that due to Malta's small size, there as a need for a policy of segregation, this created problems.

The solution, Dr Muscat said, was for Malta to act in a stronger manner with politicians of other countries, and not with the migrants. The solution was certainly not to let the migrants drown or to have them mistreated, since they were human beings like all others.

"What is needed is a strong political will, which to date has been lacking."

He observed that both the European Commission and the European Parliament agreed on a revision of the system of responsibility when illegal migrants arrived. It was the Council of Ministers which disagreed, and this was where the Maltese government was directly represented and where it needed to work harder. There were other issues which the government could use to press for an agreement, he said.

Dr Muscat said that as a politician, he would not be prepared to remain idle, and no EU rules would stop him from taking the necessary action where the government was directly responsible.

On divorce, Dr Muscat said he was in favour of Malta having this civil right and he would not shirk from speaking on the subject for fear of losing votes. Matters could no longer continue to be swept under the carpet like they did not exist. While he was a Christian and believed that a lay society had a right to practice religious values, he saw the possibility of coexistence between lay and Christian values.

When Labour was in government, he would personally move divorce legislation and give Labour MPs a free vote so that they could vote according to their conscience. He would not do so now because the government had not yet declared it was prepared to grant its MPs a free vote.

When he spoke on the dockyard issue, the Labour leader said the MLP would not hinder the privatisation process and did not wish to see any action which could endanger jobs. Indeed, it was important that the European Commission saw the Maltese people united on this issue.

Dr Muscat said anybody knowing something about EU law could have anticipated some of the problems which had cropped up, and avoided them with timely discussion.

However, the priority now was for a solution to be found in the national interest and the interests of the workers and taxpayers.

The interview will be broadcast tomorrow on Super One.