Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said the country’s stability could only be guaranteed if the three requisites set by the Prime Minister were observed.
The requisites were that the solution to the crisis could only be found if things were clarified, the solution was long term and no conditions were attached. Dr Gonzi had to be held accountable by his own yardstick.
He said the Prime Minister had called for a confidence vote after the Opposition censure motion against Minister Austin Gatt had been defeated through the Speaker’s casting vote last November. The Maltese had a right to know and put their minds at rest that the country had a stable government on a matter that was of national interest.
The Opposition had given all disposable time to the government on this motion, Dr Muscat said. The Prime Minister was not consistent when he failed to call a vote of confidence after a government MP had made important declarations on the government’s failures.
A clear vote was needed to ensure stability after the EU had ordered the government to reduce expenditure by €40 million and had warned on the need of good governance.
Dr Muscat claimed that a clear result on the no-confidence motion could only be attained if all government MPs voted against. This did not necessarily mean that the solution would be long term and would have no conditions attached. The Prime Minister would have failed the test he himself had set.
The opposition was informed that the government had retained its majority on the budgetary votes under certain conditions and after promises had been made.
A long-term solution could only be measured through political will. This was important after a government MP had pronounced himself on failures in the home affairs, justice, health and energy ministries. These failures had also been mentioned by the Opposition.
Dr Muscat said that stability could not be guaranteed if the vote was a tie with no clear decision, no durability and no knowledge on whether any conditions were attached.
On the other hand, the approval of the Opposition’s motion would give a clear result triggering constitutional mechanisms.
Dr Muscat was followed by four Nationalist MPs.
Joseph Cassar
Health Minister Joseph Cassar said the militant wing had the upper hand in the Labour Party, leading the Opposition to move the no-confidence motion which he described as “senseless”. In a situation where Malta was weathering the international economic crisis, this government deserved a vote of confidence, rather than no confidence.
The government had a vision for Malta. It was continuing to invest more in health and occupational health and safety, while other countries were making great cutbacks.
Listing improvements in the health sector, Dr Cassar said that, at Mater Dei Hospital, the number of operations last year rose to 43,747 – more than 1,900 over 2010 and 11,000 more than four years ago.
Definite targets of patient waiting time were being established and more public-private sector agreements were being reached to ease the pressure on medical examinations and operations in the state sector.
Dr Cassar said the lives of 177 women had been saved through the breast cancer screening services which were utilised by 14,526 patients.
The third and last phase of the oncology centre was in hand. The government had invested €59.6 million in this centre which would have 74 beds for in-patients and 22 for out-patients as against the present 27 in Boffa Hospital.
It would now start screening for colorectal cancer of which Malta had an annual 180 cases and a mortality rate of 95 persons.
Free medicines for cancer patients had increased to 12 at a cost of €2.5 million.
There had also been heavy investment in Boffa Hospital, particularly in palliative care and a new linear accelerator.
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 these services. Before, they had to use five government dispensaries.
This government was also improving access to medical information through the My Health programme.
During this legislature, the number of carers and nurses was on the rise and there was also better training across all the healthcare professions. The doctors’ “brain drain” had been reversed into a “brain gain” and 22 foreign doctors were now coming to study in Malta.
This year the number of doctors in government employ had increased by 150 per cent compared to 2007.
The government had, last October, deployed a new medicine procurement system and, already, the number of medicines which were out of stock had been reduced.
Work was being taken in hand to build 2,000 more graves at the Addolorata Cemetery. The Mosta cemetery would also be extended while the Infetti cemetery of Rabat/Mdina would be rehabilitated.
Dr Cassar said the government was also launching a strategy to reduce obesity. 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 problems remained such as in the Emergency Department.
But what was Labour proposing to change the public’s culture of using the hospital instead of health centres?
He also referred to “lies” and personal attacks against him and he asked whether this was the true face of the Labour Party.
Francis Zammit Dimech
Francis Zammit Dimech said that the opposition had given no reason for its motion of no confidence. He was still seeking to know the answers but Dr Muscat had said nothing about them except one unexplained sentence. All his hopes hinged on the possible outcome of the vote of a Nationalist MP.
Dr Muscat’s current action was simply a gamble.
Dr Zammit Dimech said he was yet to see a democratic country where the Opposition willingly absented itself from such an important motion by limiting itself to just 90 minutes of the debate.
The people could well see that the Opposition’s move was an example of thirst for power, even though it said it was not moving the motion willingly and would be going into any potential elections as the underdog. But the people were not looking for actors or acting; their needs were much more serious and far-reaching.
The government’s mandate was given by the people and was meant to last a full term. Every person had to shoulder the full responsibility of their political actions.
Politics must never be reduced to a race of cosmetics or slogans, he said, accusing Dr Muscat of ripping off US President Barack Obama’s slogan of “hope”.
The government’s economic successes were there for all who wanted to see and compare with those of other countries. These included job creation and tourism, but the Opposition’s motion said nothing of these and other successful sectors. The government’s efforts to save thousands of jobs were another success story.
He mentioned a series of reports about Malta by leading world organisations such as the IMF, Standard & Poor’s, the European Commission and Bloomberg. They reflected the government’s track record.
It was all too easy for the opposition to laud the government’s decisions only after they were taken, as had happened in reaction to events of the Arab spring.
Correctness and a sense of service were everything in politics. On the other hand, the politics of envy was a dangerous trap, concluded Dr Zammit Dimech.
Michael Gonzi
Another of Dr Debono’s fellow backbenchers, Michael Gonzi, said he believed in the politics of dialogue. Backbenchers had always greatly contributed to the executive, particularly in this legislature, but it was the latter which prioritised and affected plans, keeping in mind the needs of the country.
He felt sorry that the government could fall over the splitting of the justice and home affairs portfolios, which had been done anyway. Given the current international situation, it was more important to fight the current economic crisis.
Progress had been made and it was positive that the government spent €40,000 per hour on health. It was only through economic stability that services could be improved.
Although it was important to strengthen democracy, this would not result in more free medicines.
Such progress was now being threatened by the no-confidence motion.
Frederick Azzopardi
Frederick Azzopardi said the government had helped the country to progress and did not deserve a no-confidence vote.
The PN had increased foreign and local investment and had created new opportunities which improved the standard of living. The increasing fuel prices and other raw materials had not made this progress easy to achieve.
While other countries had resorted to austerity measures, Malta had managed to curb unemployment.
It was unacceptable that, instead of working hand in hand with the government, the opposition was taking political advantage of the situation and asking for a vote of no confidence.
The debate continues tomorrow evening.