Opposition leader Joseph Muscat stressed this evening that by the prime minister's own benchmarks, the country would not get stability if a motion of no confidence was not defeated by a government majority on Thursday.
Dr Muscat was speaking at the opening of the debate on the no confidence motion - hours after rebel Nationalist MP Franco Debono indicated that he may abstain rather than vote against the no confidence motion. That would mean equal votes in favour and against the motion.
Such an outcome, Dr Muscat said, would still not achieve the benchmarks which the prime minister had set - clarity, durability and the absence of pre-conditions.
The following is the debate as it unfolds:
Opposition leader JOSEPH MUSCAT - Dr Muscat said this was the second time in a short time that the House was being asked to declare whether it had confidence in the government. The first debate was held at the request of the prime minister in the wake of the vote of confidence in Transport Minister Austin Gatt, when the Speaker had to use his casting vote after an MP abstained. At the time, Dr Gonzi said the people deserved to know where they stood with regard to governing stability and it was in the national interest that the country had stability.
Thus the government felt at the time that a no confidence motion that was defeated only because of the Speaker's casting vote did not lend itself to stability and peace of mind. This was a benchmark which the country should keep in mind.
Dr Muscat said Dr Gonzi yesterday also made another important declaration which must also be regarded as a benchmark when the outcome of this debate became known. He said yesterday that he wanted a solution to the government crisis, but it had to have three elements - clarity, durability and that there were no pre-conditions.
The outcome of Thursday's vote would only be clear if the prime minister managed to defeat the opposition motion with a majority of votes from his MPs.
Durability, Dr Muscat said, went even beyond the voting at the end of this debate and had to be calculated according to political will. Public declarations made in the past few weeks reflected the government's and the prime minister's failures on a range of issues including home affairs, health, justice and energy. Politically, it was clear that, beyond the numbers, the government was in crisis.
The third issue was about pre-conditions, something which the opposition would not be involved in, Dr Muscat said. It had, however, become known that in the past, there were pre-conditions leading to the approval of the Budget votes.
In a situation where the EU was calling for Budget cutbacks for Malta and the IMF had called for steady governance, clearly, the government needed to be able, through the votes of its MPs, to defeat this no confidence motion.
There were various scenarios ahead, Dr Muscat said. If all 35 government MPs voted against the motion, the result would be clear, but if the issue of durability and pre-conditions lingered, there would not be stability in the people's minds.
If there were equal votes in favour and against the motion, the result, by the prime minister's yardstick, would not be clear, it would not be long term, and one would not know if there were pre-conditions. There would be no stability.
The third scenario was that the no-confidence motion would be backed by a majority. In that case, the result would be clear and the constitutional process would be kicked off.
The forecast so far, on the basis of Dr Gonzi's milestones, did not look good, Dr Gonzi said. If the no confidence motion was approved, the constitutional provisions would kick in. If the votes were equal, two of Dr Gonzi's tests for stability - durability and pre-conditions would not have been satisfied, Dr Muscat said.
Health Minister JOSEPH CASSAR said this was a government which had a vision for the country. This was a government which was continuing to invest more in health and occupation health and safety, while other countries were making huge cutbacks. At Mater Dei, the number of operations had risen to 43,747 last year, 11,000 more than four years ago.
Definite targets of patient waiting time were being established, Dr Cassar said, and more agreements were being reached with the private sector to ease the pressure for medical examinations and operations in the state sector.
He said the government was saving people's lives through its preventive programmes, such as in the case of cancer screening services.
The government had also invested heavily in Boffa Hospital, particularly in palliative care and a new linear accelerator. This would eventually be transferred to the new state of the art Oncology Centre.
The government, he said, had extended the Pharmacy of Your Choice Scheme to 129 pharmacies in 47 localities and another 30 pharmacies would be added in the coming weeks, 96,000 patients were benefiting from this services. Before, they had to use just five government dispensaries.
This government was also improving access to medical information through the My Health programme.
Under this government, the number of carers and nurses was increasing and there was also better training across all the healthcare professions. The doctors' brain drain had been turned into a brain gain and foreign doctors were now coming to study in Malta. This year the number of doctors in government employ had increased by 150% compared to 2007.
The government had, in October, deployed a new medicine procurement system and, already, the number of medicines which were out of stock had been reduced.
ADDOLORATA CEMETERY EXTENSION
Work was being taken in hand on an extension of the Addolorata Cemetery to yield 2,000 more graves. Mosta cemetery would also be extended while the Infetti cemetery of Rabat/Mdina would be rehabilitated.
The government was also launching a strategy to reduce obesity, Dr Cassar said. A sexual health policy had also been launched while the schedule of free medicines was being extended to include various illnesses. A vaccine against cervical cancer would also start to be provided, Dr Cassar said.
He said Labour was not giving solutions. Problems remained, he said, such as in the Emergency Department. But what was Labour proposing to change the public's culture of using hospital instead of health centres?
Dr Cassar also referred to 'lies' and personal attacks against him and he asked whether this was the true face of the Labour Party.
In a situation where Malta was weathering the international economic crisis, this government deserved a vote of confidence, rather than no confidence, Dr Cassar said. But, alas, the militant wing had the upper hand in the Labour Party, leading the Opposition to move this 'senseless' no confidence motion.
Dr FRANCIS ZAMMIT DIMECH (PN) noted that in its motion the Opposition had not said why the House should express no confidence in the government. Neither had Dr Muscat given any reasons in his opening address. Dr Muscat's hopes hinged only on the possible actions by an MP on the government benches.
MUSCAT WANTS TO WIN IN ALL SCENARIOS - FZD
Dr Zammit Dimech said that when Dr Muscat had spoken about the various possible outcomes of Thursday's vote, he was led to remember how Dr Muscat, acted after the EU referendum when had celebrated the so-called victory of the No vote. As in the past, he had today spoken of situation where he would practically always win.
The Opposition's silence in this debate - which it had also wanted to restrict - was incredible and unheard of in similar debates in democratic countries, Dr Zammit Dimech said. This was an Opposition which was not saying why there should be no confidence in the government, it was not making its own proposals, and only claiming that it wanted stability. Clearly it wanted one thing only - to be in government.
Whenever the election was held, Dr Zammit Dimech said, the people should be given clear choices. Dr Muscat's latest slogan was 'hope', but what hope was he speaking about when the Maltese economy was doing better than in other countries, when employment levels were rising and when more students were graduating? The Opposition was not giving a new vision to the country.
THE DIFFERENCE IS JOBS
Dr Zammit Dimech said that what made all the difference was jobs and the people would do well to remember Labour's record in this sector. Malta's economic fundamentals were better than the EU average. Unemployment was among the lowest, employment growth was the highest. Dr Muscat used to say that he wanted Malta to be among the best in Europe. That was precisely what the present government had managed to achieve. So why risk upsetting all this? In what democratic country, in a confidence debate, didn't the Opposition say anything about the economy? Only in Malta, it seemed.
In such an uncertain world, it was the government which was providing real, economic stability, Dr Zammit Dimech said. It was this government which guaranteed and protected jobs, and its record proved it. In contrast, there was nothing from the Opposition.
Just this afternoon, the IMF had warned of an uncertain economic situation for Malta and the need for Malta to navigate carefully. Yet the Opposition had still come up with this no confidence motion without motivation, in the same way as it nothing on its proposals on Air Malta or the dockyard. Would it push the clock back for the latter, or would it admit, in this case too, that the government was right?
Dr Zammit Dimech also noted how the EU had stopped the excessive deficit procedure for Malta. The last Budget had led to this outcome, so what was the Opposition's position on the Budget now?
Bloomberg has spoken glowingly of the growth in funds transferred to the Maltese financial centre, further proving the government's track record in a sector which made a difference between job creation and unemployment. This was also what made pensions sustainable.
These were the things the people should think about when they were asked to make their choices, in the proper time, Dr Zammit Dimech said. They should think, to quote Kennedy, what they could do for their country, and not only what their country could do for them.
THE ROLE OF BACKBENCHERS
Dr MICHAEL GONZI said he had disagreements sometimes, but it never crossed his mind to act in a way which could endanger the government. The backbench had always given a contribute to the government, and so too did the current backbench, in some cases more than in the past. He had tried to help in areas such as health. Of course, he wished for many things in the health sector, but every MP had to realise that they were not the government. It was the Executive which had to see the proposals and ideas of MPs and then see how, in the context of policy and funds, it should set priorities. It was the Cabinet which knew, in details what the country's needs were. Hence, it was the members of the Cabinet who were responsible for the future of the country.
It would be regrettable if this government was to fall because of issues such as the situation in the prisons and other sectors. It was not that those sectors were not important, but it was not what the people were most calling for. The government always respected the will and needs of the people, and the greatest needs were currently economic.
In the health sector, huge progress had been made. More remained to be done, and he saw that as a priority. But no progress could be made without economic progress. The will of the party should come first, as well as their wellbeing. All this was being threatened by this no confidence motion. Which government had the know-how to overcome the economic challenges facing the country in a make or break year? Which country could guarantee jobs, pensions an social benefits. The reply was clearly the party in government, Dr Gonzi said.
FREDERICK AZZOPARDI (PN) said the government was not perfect, but it did not deserve this motion of no confidence. The success of a government depended on its leadership, vision, ideas and credibility. These were much in evidence under the present government as proved by the economic records, achieved in difficult circumstances. The government had laid the foundations for success in the future. This government had managed to keep factories open when they were at risk of succumbing to the economic crisis. And while pumping funds in order to protect jobs, the government had managed to maintain spending on social services, health and education and give the required attention to social inclusion. This was in sharp contrast to the situation in other countries, Mr Azzopardi said.
He highlighted the recent Budget measures including tax cuts for parents and investment in the bio-park and in industrial estates. The government's aim, he said, was to achieve standards of excellence in various sectors by 2015, notably in education and the health sectors. Malta was at a cross roads, he said, and it should be careful not to lose its way now.
The debate ended at 9 p.m. and continues tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6.30 p.m.