Joseph Muscat said today that the prime minister should have halted the ratification of ACTA, as other countries had done.
Referring to Dr Gonzi's statement yesterday afternoon, Dr Gonzi said that was a statement of convenience, not conviction. He had rushed into signing ACTA behind everybody's back. The socialist and liberal MEPs had been consistently against ACTA in the European Parliament, while the Popular Party, of which the PN formed part, was in favour.
The least that Dr Gonzi could have done yesterday, Dr Muscat said, was to halt ratification, as other countries had done.
But Dr Gonzi had decided that the agreement should stay - effectively ignoring the protest of the morning. He however spoke yesterday of a new law on new civil rights on access to the Internet.
One had to see what Bill the government would come up with, and whether he would have a majority in parliament to make it law, Dr Muscat said.
Dr Gonzi was the least one to speak on civil rights - one only needed to remember the divorce debate where he even voted against divorce in parliament after the people voted in favour in a referendum.
If ACTA was approved by the European Parliament and came for ratification before the Maltese parliament, the Labour Opposition would vote against, Dr Muscat insisted.
In his address, Dr Muscat said Malta was experiencing a situation where GonziPN was trying to persuade the people that the political situation was normal.
But the situation was far from normal. The country was in crisis and it needed firm leadership, Dr Muscat said.
The prime minister was clinging to power and trying to stretch his time in office as far as possible while permits were issued, promotions were given and taxes reduced.
The government was also showing itself to be always in reactive mode, the latest example being Dr Gonzi's statement in reaction to the Acta protest. The government had also been late, and had to react, over assaults on gay couples. Dr Gonzi eventually said the government would legislate on hate crimes.
Dr Muscat said that in order to achieve stability, the prime minister needed to ensure that parliamentary business was carried out normally and votes were not delayed, as was happening now. Alternatively, his one remaining honourable option was to call a general election.
Referring to The Times leaders' debate on Thursday, Dr Muscat said the prime minister was refusing to acknowledge the current political problem, only calling it a challenge after having earlier likened it to a blister.
He had also showed that he was not making a distinction between transparency and bureaucracy, to the extent that he was defending the latter.
Would the prime minister say, for example, who would assume responsibility for the monstrosity built on Strait Street, Valletta, which would now be demolished?
In other parts of his speech Dr Muscat reiterated that Labour would create a safe working environment for SMEs. It would consider the self-employed as clients of the government and not the other way around, he said.
He also promised that, in line with EU rules, Labour would usher in a new system for the administration of public funds which did not depend on borrowing, but on creating the environment for economic growth powered by the private sector.
Dr Muscat reiterated that under Labour, health services would remain free and stipends would be retained and strengthened.