Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday reiterated his party’s plan to vote against the Budget on Monday but promised to keep its framework, saying it would be irresponsible to do otherwise.
Dr Muscat was speaking during an interview on Church radio, RTK, a day after his Budget reaction in Parliament.
The Labour leader fielded several questions from callers on a number of topics wherein he promised solutions to their laments.
The PL was promising to refund VAT motorists paid over and above the normal car registration tax since Malta’s EU accession, he said, adding that this was one of the party’s electoral pledges.
A Labour Government would refund amounts charged on vehicle registration since Malta joined the EU in 2004, estimated to amount to some €50 million, which the party believes were illegally collected.
The Labour Party had initiated legal proceedings in May 2009 after the then EU Taxation Commissioner said car owners who paid VAT on new or second-hand cars since Malta’s EU accession may claim a refund as the levied tax contravened EU law. The party had rallied some 17,600 people and filed the court case on their behalf. The case is still pending, with the Government insisting that the tax was not illegal.
Replying to a question on how he would be funding his electoral pledge to bring down utility bills, Dr Muscat said Labour’s manifesto will include a “realistic and sustainable” energy plan, with details on how energy bills will be made cheaper, when and by how much.
Dr Muscat said this electoral promise will be funded by reducing inefficiency at the government-owned energy provider. He said Enemalta’s €700 million debt, racked up over a 25-year period, will also be paid back gradually.
Referring to the cost of fuel, Dr Muscat said that while prices had decreased in the eurozone, in Malta they had increased.
“We are not saying we will reduce the price of fuel but we want transparency. If in Government, I will ask the Malta Resources Authority to give detailed explanations on price fluctuations. We have proposals to introduce certainty on fuel prices as you cannot have fluctuations every month – it’s not good for businesses,” he said.
On his pledge to remove the taxation for minimum wage earners who fill in a computation for singles, Dr Muscat said this was not a storm in a teacup as Finance Minister Tonio Fenech had claimed, but was a pledge to remove a tax introduced “secretly” last year, which was expected to double next year.
In reply to a caller who asked about waiting lists, Dr Muscat said he had “many solutions” for this problem at Mater Dei Hospital, including private-public partnerships.
Regarding the Whistleblower Act, he said Labour would make two fundamental changes − ensure there is an incentive for someone to come forward with information and introduce it retrospectively to cover also past cases of corruption or wrongdoing.