The suspended jail sentences given to seven men who pleaded guilty in the VAT Department scam court case sent the wrong message to those who observed the law, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

In an interview on One Radio, Dr Muscat expressed hope that the big fish would be caught in this scandal. "I hope it is not the small fish that are caught but also the sharks," he said.

Dr Muscat said abuse within the department had been going on for years, during the time Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was responsible for the finance portfolio, and specific appeals to the Auditor General about the department had fallen on deaf ears.

Dr Muscat said he was expecting a good budget for next year because both Dr Gonzi and Finance Minister Tonio Fenech had declared that the worst was over. "At a time when we are supposed to be recovering from the recession, the Labour Party is expecting a good budget that will see the tax burdens being eased and the income tax bands widened," he said. It was futile for the government to ease burdens only when the economy was doing well.

Dr Muscat recalled that, while before last year's general election the government had promised subsidies, it was now describing them as waste and was even looking at removing aid to low-cost airlines.

Referring to the extension of the Delimara power station, Dr Muscat said the €4 million paid in commissions in connection with the contract would be coming out of people's tax money. The government chose a €200 million project even though it would have to go for cleaner technology within a few years.

Dr Muscat accused Dr Gonzi of leading an unstable government, which lacked ideas and energy and whose politics were rooted in the past. He said the Prime Minister was more concerned with winning general elections than the standard of living of the Maltese.

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