Labour leader Joseph Muscat said today that the crises that the government was facing would not go away after Tuesday's confidence vote which, he was certain, the government would win.

Dr Muscat said at a political activity in Senglea this morning that the country was crying out for stability because it was only in that way that wealth could be created and distributed fairly. But the government was stumbling from one crisis to another.

Observers were seeing a prime minister more focused on the problems of his political party than the issues facing the people, Dr Muscat said.

He defended the no confidence motion in Transport Minister Austin Gatt, debated in parliament on Friday, and said its purpose was to demand ministerial accountability.

The Prime Minister, he said, had panicked and raised the stakes, making this an issue of collective responsibility. The current situation, therefore, was exclusively the consequence of the prime minister's decision.

Dr Muscat said Dr Gonzi had  nailed his colours to the actions of just one person, Austin Gatt, who in his speech in parliament on Friday appeared to put party before country.

The prime minister, Dr Muscat said, was hostage of Austin Gatt.

It was clear that the government would win Tuesday's confidence vote, but Dr Gonzi knew well enough that the crisis he had brought on himself would not go away.

The PN was a party of the few for the few, Dr Muscat said. It had blurred the lines government and party and constitutional principles and correctness had suffered as a result. It was unacceptable that a minister had revealed Cabinet minutes at a PN executive meeting, in breach of the law. The PN General Secretary had also produced a Cabinet document on television.

Dr Muscat recalled how the government found itself in a minority over the Co-Cathedral museum project and had to drop it. Its hand was forced over the issue of legal assistance to people under arrest, and it was embarrassed during the debate on the power tariffs and the power station extension. The government was split in half over divorce. It was red faced over the €500 per week ministerial pay rise, and it was in a corner over the bus reform.

It was almost without precedent that Dr Gonzi last week asked the Opposition not to vote on the no confidence motion - proposing a ministerial committee on the bus reform instead. But the Opposition would not be an accomplice in the government's failure, Dr Muscat said.

That Dr Gonzi was now calling a confidence vote was a drastic measure which showed that he felt himself on thin ice and may not be sure of the backing he had, Dr Muscat said.

The Labour leader also attacked Dr Gatt's record, including his plans to build a new road to Ghadira, the way he had sold Sea Malta and the huge losses made by Malta Shipyards in the Fairmount contracts, the power station extension and the high power tariffs, the issues at Mita, the 'bridge to nowhere' at Grand Harbour and the transfer of prime real estate to GO as part of the Maltacom privatisation, the unkept job promises at SmartCity and the building of the new parliament when funding issues had not been explained.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.