Television football issues could have been resolved years ago - Muscat

Ongoing discussions about exclusive football broadcasting rights could have been resolved by the regulator years ago, had the Malta Communications Authority anticipated the problems, according to Labour leader Joseph Muscat.

"This was a situation that could have been foreseen," he said, adding that it was now in the hands of those in charge to legislate accordingly, to ensure fair and proper competition.

Answering prepared questions from the public on party radio station Super One, Dr Muscat was also asked about separation and cohabitation.

He told supporters that even though they might not want him to speak about divorce he had no other option because the situation in Malta was hypocritical.

"The rich can go to live in another country and get a divorce but the poor have to live with their failed marriage forever. I believe people should have second chances in life. And not even just one other chance."

He pointed out that the Church had not yet spoken against the cohabitation law that was going to be proposed, so he assumed it was in agreement with the government.

"However, I still think we need to take it a step forward with a law on divorce," he said, adding that he would give a free vote in Parliament once in government.

Dr Muscat stepped up his concerns on the White Rocks project saying that the government should not have announced it if the negotiations were still underway because now the Prime Minister was using that excuse not to answer questions about it.

He pointed out that a revised estimate of the property's value amounted to half a billion euro.

Dr Muscat said he believed soldiers, police, wardens and those working in the civil protection department deserved the right to form a union but not to strike.

Asked about pensions, he said the Labour party believed anomalous situations, such as those of people working in the Civil Protection Department, needed to be addressed.

However, the government should not resort to reforming pensions simply because it needed money, especially since it had found the money for a new Parliament.

He stressed that under a Labour government, health services would remain free and medicines would not run out of stock. "If it is sustainable to buy a new parliament, it is sustainable to have free health care and medicines."

Dr Muscat said the Prime Minister's recent comments, about poverty being just a perception, were "shocking and insensitive". "How can you fix a problem if you think it only exists in people's imagination?"

The Nationalist Party reacted to Dr Muscat's comments by saying that he was wrong to say expenditure on healthcare, pensions and social services was being reduced.

The PN also said that Dr Muscat was unable to back the White Rocks project without instilling doubts.