(Adds ministries', Mr Bonello's, PN's statements)
The Home Affairs Minister should resign from leader of the House, even temporarily, so that he would not continue to keep a debate and vote on a motion of no confidence on his ministry from taking place, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said this morning.
Speaking in St Paul's Bay, Dr Muscat said that the minister could, alternatively, do the right thing and set a date for the debate and vote.
The country, he said, could not be kept hanging especially in view of the death of a person who had been recorded saying he had been beaten up by the police.
Dr Muscat said that there was political instability in the country which was hindering progress.
For progress could only be brought about with a stable government. The government was trying to make the crisis seem normal but it was not and urgent debates which were needed in Parliament were not taking place because of the situation.
In a statement, the Home Affairs Ministry said it had already declared in public statements that the motions which have been presented would be placed on Parliament's agenda.
So Dr Muscat's conclusions were completely wrong. The Opposition leader knew well enough that the House had to debate urgent matters because of the crisis in the EU. These were priorities the country had the obligation to debate as an EU member.
AIR MALTA
On Air Malta, the Labour leader said that after paying out early retirement schemes, a call for applications for new jobs at Air Malta had now been issued.
A clear explanation needed to be given to taxpayers who were paying for worker' early retirement and political responsibility had to be shouldered.
Dr Muscat asked how much was the restructuring plan going to cost and what kind of alternatives had been considered. The steering committee which had been set up, he said, met two to three times and died.
In a statement, the Finance Ministry accused Dr Muscat of trying to hiner the airline’s restructuring for political gain and to the detriment of workers and their families.
The ministry said these were crucial weeks for the airline when the plan was being evaluated by the European Commission. But Dr Muscat tried to discredit the process.
The situation in the civil aviation sector was tough and competitive with two airlines having to close down in the past months, leaving many workers unemployed.
Other airlines had to restructure and many workers lost their job as a result.
In Malta, the government and the airline took difficult but responsible decisions to make the airline viable. An agreement was reached with unions and early retirement schemes were issued with workers being given other job opportunities in the public sector.
However, it was necessary to employ temporary staff for the summer because of the seasonality of operations.
The government wanted a strong and competitive national airline which gave the Maltese a service, strengthened the tourism industry and gave investors and businessmen a service.
At this time, the same rope should be towed for the plan to be approved and the company would have a future.
ENEMALTA
Turning to Enemalta, Dr Muscat said this was being fined daily as a result of incompetence and a lack of an energy plan.
The corporation was at least €600 million in debt and it was still unclear how the interconnector was going to be paid for.
Dr Muscat lashed at Enemalta's human resource manager Anthony Bonello who, he said, was lying to workers and telling them that a Labour government would dismiss workers.
Workers, Dr Muscat said, should fear another Nationalist government and not a Labour one.
"I am holding Mr Bonello personally responsible for these lies, instigated and coordinated by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech," Dr Muscat said.
Mr Bonello issued a statement in the afternoon saying
"Further to the comments by Labour party leader Dr Joseph Muscat during his speech at St Paul's Bay, I categorically deny ever making such a statement, or trying to influence or lie to Enemalta employees about their job security and future with the Corporation".
COUNCILS
On councils, Dr Muscat said that the road ahead was tough but Labour would keep councillors who tried to play games personally responsible and would take all legal and possible action to protect citizens.
"We will not allow any contractor to mock democracy in our localities," he said.
PN STATEMENT
In a statement, the PN accused Dr Muscat of making personal attacks and of speaking on everything except on what mattered to the people.
Dr Muscat, the PN said wanted a power station which operated on coal and although he promised he would reduce water and electricity tariffs he never said how.
The Labour leader continued to ignore the achievements of Maltese workers which put Malta in the second place among the eurozone countries which created the most employment.