The government has threatened Arriva twice with cancelling the bus service contract, Transport Minister Austin Gatt reveals in an interview with The Sunday Times today.

"It's still on the cards," the minister says in a broad interview, in the wake of mounting criticism over the new bus service and ahead of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in him.

The interview was held last Thursday, before the minister announced a major overhaul of routes yesterday.

According to the contract, Arriva could start being fined by November 4 if it fails to abide by its obligations, says Dr Gatt. Admitting the new service was still disappointing, he says Arriva will be sending back the British controllers and increasing the number of buses.

Dr Gatt insists his ministry has assumed full responsibility for the routes it mapped out, and carried out the necessary changes.

"We totally underestimated the resistance to change," he says, adding it was now up to the operator to deliver the service under contract.

Speaking to Herman Grech about the political situation, the Nationalist heavyweight insists his comments were taken out of context when he recently said his party could be in government for another 20 years.

Asked whether his "arrogant" label could harm his party's fortunes, Dr Gatt replies: "We've won two elections in the last 10 years with Austin Gatt being 'arrogant' all the way. So? People don't vote for Austin Gatt. The last election showed us how pre-conceptions go out of the window when election time comes. No one ever thought Lawrence Gonzi was going to pull off a third election in a row, including 95 per cent of our party. He did... I know that if it plays its cards well in these last 18 months, it can still win the election."

Watch excerpts of the interview above. Read the whole interview in The Sunday Times.

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