PN supporters at the Granaries last night. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The Nationalist Party has to win back people’s respect on its own merit by presenting the best proposals for the country, rather than limiting itself to criticising Labour’s mistakes, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday.

Dr Busuttil was addressing his party’s first mass meeting since its landslide defeat in the March election, and it was his first since his election as PN leader in May.

The event brought to an end the party’s four-day activities marking the 49th anniversary of Malta’s independence.

His speech focused mainly on Labour’s first six months in government and the challenges ahead for the PN to win back the trust of the majority of the electorate in five years’ time.

Dr Busuttil said the past months have been the most difficult in the party’s recent history. It had to regroup not only to stand a good chance of returning to power but also because a strong Opposition was crucial for a healthy democracy.

Dr Busuttil admitted the party was losing touch with the people. Despite these shortcomings, however, PN-led administrations had never stooped to the low levels that have characterised the first six months of the Labour government.

Dr Busuttil said that meritocracy was the first slogan which went out of the window, referring to a number of appointments handed to Labour-leaning individuals since March.

He again criticised Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit, saying he was more interested in defending the Labour Party than citizens. Dr Busuttil added that the Government was now mounting pressure on the army chief to resign, to be replaced by a Labour-leaning official. He referred to the Government’s recent agreement with China, hitting out for “selling a third of Enemalta behind people’s back with no public call”.

The PN leader also referred to Malta’s downgrade by credit rating agency Fitch, saying this was the result of the Government’s lack of vision and economic plan.

Borrowing a popular phrase used by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at the height of the immigration issue in July, Dr Busuttil said the Government must “wake up and smell the coffee” by presenting a clear plan for job creation.

He also criticised the decision to continue using heavy fuel oil for another two years, remarking this was taken by the same party that branded Delimara power station a “cancer factory” prior to the general election.

Touching on employment, he said that the jobless rate was at its highest since 2009.

He also lashed out at the decision to appoint Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi’s wife to a Government post. In normal European democracies, such action would lead to the immediate resignation of the minister.

Former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi was present among the crowd, which cheered loudly when he was praised by Dr Busuttil.