‘Malta does not need elections but stability’

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said confidence was one of most important aspects in parliamentary life. The country at this time did not need new elections but the stable policies it already had, which attracted investment and guaranteed a good future.

Stability did not mean there could be no dissenting voices in any group. In every circumstance of internal disagreement, the Nationalist Party had always sought the best way forward for the country. Compromise must never un­dermine guiding principles and values.

Today was another difficult situation of serious disagreement with a government MP. What was different this time was a single fact: the Leader of the Opposition had seen an opportunity to topple the government.

Dr Gonzi said in the circumstances it was clear that Joseph Muscat’s thirst for power was superseding the country’s best interests. He was blackmailing the government not through his own side’s arguments and votes but through others, ading that he could have chosen the way of peace and succumbed to the blackmail. But he refused to bypass the country’s best interests.

In the fourth year of any legislature, major projects would be close to maturity and the opposition had found the government focused on Libya, the euro crisis and other important aspects. This was typical of Labour’s track record of political opportunism.

Dr Gonzi said his own brand of politics was different, one of seeking the people’s confidence without the thought of power being supreme. The PN had never shirked from saying the good and bad, unlike the PL, which always kept its cards close to its chest.

Dr Muscat’s penchant for trying to mislead the House must stop. With the no-confidence motion, Labour had presented another proposing just 75 minutes for the government to debate the matter in spite of Standing Orders giving each speaker a whole hour. This was an effort at guillotine at a time when the Arab world had discovered freedom of expression. This behaviour reminded him of the worst times of Socialism.

The Leader of the Opposition had not had the decency to say that the previous motion of confidence in November had been preceded by bilateral talks on allocation of time. Both sides had agreed on one sitting for the whole debate.

Dr Gonzi said the House was debating the motion after comments made by Nationalist MP Franco Debono. He had thought long about such comments and agreed with them, including constitutional and judicial reform which were also mentioned in the President’s speech.

Justice reform was on the table right now. The constitutional reform, including party financing, was stopped because the opposition had decided to withdraw its participation in the select committee. Even if the PN did not agree with all proposed reforms he would remain open to discussion.

He could not agree with Dr Debono’s methods. Every MP must not only make his points in the best way he thought fit but within limits.

Dr Gonzi said he was and would continue to be ready to make every MP feel he belonged to the party. But if the opposition’s motion passed he would go straight to the President and propose an early election.

Malta should not reach that point. He remained optimistic and hopeful.

The most important question was the motivation behind the motion. Labour was not interested in the consequences for the country. Dr Gonzi said he would have been much more worried if the motion had been made on grounds of unemployment, or lack of trust in Malta on the part of the EU, the IMF or financial markets, or failure in education or any other economic or financial sector.

Labour simply wanted the government to move out of the way. To Dr Muscat, Malta needed a new era, like Greece, but results from all quarters gave him the lie. He was interested only in virtual reality. What Malta needed was to know more about his proposed policies for increased competitiveness and a better future.

While Dr Muscat had been addressing his party’s general conference on Sunday, the government had been preparing for next week’s EU summit on sanctions against Iran and its threats that would impact Malta and oil prices. It had been exploring progress on the interconnector grid with Europe, whether the new turbines of the power station extension could be started earlier and how to help Air Malta, which was already showing good signs of progress.

Concluding, Dr Gonzi said it would have been much better to have a more constructive dialogue with the opposition’s participation and discuss alternatives and concrete policies. But, again, the government had been faced with perfect silence because the opposition’s only interest was to win the vote. Malta deserved much better.