Muscat and Briguglio call for an election

The Prime Minister lost his parliamentary majority and should call an election, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said immediately after the no-confidence motion was defeated yesterday with the Speaker’s casting vote.

“The Labour Party is not in a hurry for an election but the people cannot have a wait-and-see Prime Minister because every day that passes is a day lost to instability,” Dr Muscat said.

Addressing a press conference at the PL headquarters in Ħamrun an hour after the motion was defeated, Dr Muscat urged Lawrence Gonzi to call an election.

He said the result of the parliamentary vote had even failed the Prime Minister’s own benchmark of clarity and durability. On Sunday, Dr Gonzi said the solution to the crisis had to be clear, durable and without conditions.

“If the Prime Minister does not admit this, he will not only be taking the people for a ride but also himself,” Dr Muscat said.

The Prime Minister had a crisis of governability, he added, asking Dr Gonzi to heed the commercial community’s appeal to bring an end to the uncertainty.

Drawing parallels with the political situation after the 1981 election, Dr Muscat said at the time the PL was constitutionally and legally right to govern but it was morally and ethically wrong – the party had obtained a majority of parliamentary seats despite not having a majority of votes.

Dr Muscat said that although the Prime Minister could legally continue to govern after the motion’s defeat, Dr Gonzi had lost his moral authority.

“The Prime Minister is playing for time and endangering jobs,” he said.

Dr Muscat defended his party’s actions when asked whether it had banked too much on Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono’s dissent when the no-confidence motion was presented.

He insisted the PL did what Dr Gonzi did not have the courage to do and seek a vote of confidence in Parliament.

Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Michael Briguglio also called for an election “in view of the politically unstable situation in the country”.

Mr Briguglio said Malta could not be held hostage by a member of Parliament who was keeping the country guessing.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com