The Nationalist Party today accused the MLP of trying to politicise the shipyards privatisation issue – 12 hours after the MLP in a statement said the matter should not be the subject of partisan politics.

The PN said that while the MLP a few days ago congratulated the government and the GWU for their agreement on the shipyards, in its statement yesterday the party showed it had had a change of heart.

This reflected inconsistency and convenience politics, not least because when the privatisation process started, the MLP sat on the fence. But when the GWU called a public meeting and sounded confrontational and the MLP leadership attended and “approved the language”.

When, however, public opinion expressed itself against the tone used by the GWU, Joseph Muscat started criticising the language used by the GWU in the activity he himself attended

The MLP then tried to take credit for the recent agreement with the GWU, but now it had changed tack again, issuing a statement which the PN said, was partisan.

The PN said the government would do its best to ensure that Malta Shipyards was successfully privatised to the benefit of the country and the workers and within the context of EU membership.

The MLP statement can be found on http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080912/local/mlp-urges-government-to-do-whatever-necessary-to-solve-dockyard-issue-with-eu