Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat yesterday accused Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi of “dragging his feet” on the parliamentary crisis and asked why Parliament had not been convened while the Prime Minister was abroad.
Parliament did not meet yesterday and is not scheduled to meet today either, with Dr Muscat noting that the legislature had only met four times since reconvening from the Christmas recess. A parliamentary session is scheduled for tomorrow.
Claims that Parliament could not meet until the Prime Minister returned from an EU summit abroad did not hold water, Dr Muscat said. “In previous years, Parliament still went on when the Prime Minster was abroad.”
The Nationalist Party reacted by accusing Dr Muscat of parliamentary manoeuvres, so with this in mind the government would be convening Parliament “when all its deputies are in Malta”.
“It has to be made clear that although Joseph Muscat’s no-confidence motion in the government did not pass, unfortunately, the relationship between government and Opposition in Parliament has had to change,” it said.
“Joseph Muscat thinks he can win votes in Parliament through parliament-ary manoeuvres.”
Pointing out that Dr Gonzi was in Brussels meeting with EU leaders at a summit to discuss the economic challenges, the PN said Labour’s criticism showed how Dr Muscat was continuing to ignore the economic realities in European countries.
But Dr Muscat said the needless procrastination was simply further evidence of a government in crisis.
“The government is just playing for time. We’ve progressed from a Prime Minister held hostage by a clique. Now we have a Parliament and country held hostage.”
Dr Muscat also took aim at Dr Gonzi’s speech during the PN’s extraordinary general conference last Sunday, welcom-ing the Prime Minister’s “belated admission” that he had not accrued a majority of votes in last week’s no-confidence motion.
Dr Gonzi had used the general conference to propose holding a PN leadership contest as a means of assuming full political responsibility for government decisions and the composition of Cabinet, insisting “the buck stops here”.
But Dr Muscat dismissed his political adversary’s claim that the leadership contest would put ongoing political instability to rest.
“This is a parliamentary problem, not a party one. The Prime Minister needs a majority within Parliament, not within his own party,” he said.
But in a statement yesterday evening, the Nationalist Party made it clear that Parliament will only meet when all government MPs are in Malta.
The party said that, while the no-confidence motion moved by Dr Muscat had been defeated, the relationship in Parliament between the government and the opposition had changed because Dr Muscat was trying to win votes in the House through parliamentary manoeuvring.
The PN also accused the Labour leader of putting partisan interests before the national one.
Labour leader Joseph Muscat speaking against the backdrop of a closed Parliament. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli