Conveying people’s “anger and disgust” at the shooting incident involving a minister’s driver, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil accused the Prime Minister of being weak in the face of abuse.

Using his Budget reaction speech yesterday to hit out at what he described as the government-induced culture of “anything goes”, Dr Busuttil said the Prime Minister had lost his moral authority.

“You have a tent outside [in St George’s Square] saying this is a government that listens, so listen to the people and remove [Home Affairs Minister] Manuel Mallia,” Dr Busuttil said.

Dr Mallia’s security driver last week fired shots that hit the car of a man who had crashed into the ministerial car. The Opposition has accused the minister of an attempted cover-up after the initial information given by the government said the driver, Paul Sheehan, had fired warning shots into the air.

Dr Busuttil started his speech by making reference to the new parliamentary procedure whereby everyone entering the building would be frisked to ensure nobody carried weapons. The procedure ordered by the Speaker was the result of the shooting incident.

The incident was grave and could have been worse had one of the bullets passed through the windscreen and hit the driver.

“It could have been your son, my son, who was involved in an accident with a minister’s driver and ended up being chased by a man with a gun.”

Dr Busuttil insisted the minister’s driver acted the way he did because of the culture fostered by the government over the last 20 months. This incident showed the government had no standards of political accountability.

“The incident is the result of a culture where everything goes, in which everyone connected to this government feels he can do as he pleases.”

Busuttil: the truth will prevail

He then listed a series of wrongdoings he said were being perpetrated by ministers, mentioning by name Owen Bonnici (did not resign pending court procedures over a car accident), Helena Dalli (illegal works on a property she owns), Konrad Mizzi (employing his wife as a special envoy), Joe Mizzi (employing his sister-in-law) and Chris Cardona (interfered with a casino licence tender).

Dr Busuttil also mentioned the recent case involving backbencher Luciano Busuttil, who was referred by the courts to the Commission for the Administration of Justice over a conflict of interest involving a tender awarded by the Cospicua council.

In an impassioned ending, Dr Busuttil pitched a message of honesty, rounding up with the 1980s’ Nationalist Party rallying call “the truth will prevail”.

“My weapon is honesty, the truth and democracy. I believe honest politics can beat this government [at the next election], hard as it may be, because I believe truth will prevail,” Dr Busuttil said.

On the Budget, he criticised the introduction of stealth taxes that had a negative impact on the most vulnerable. The government had lost its social conscience, giving pensioners a pittance of a bonus amounting to €35 a year to make up for the low cost-of-living adjustment.

The Budget failed to outline the government’s economic direction and did not address the drop in exports and retail, he added.

“The only new idea of note was the sale of passports and it is not appropriate for a prime minister to be going around the world selling passports,” Dr Busuttil said.

He noted that unemployment figures released yesterday showed a positive trend but urged people to look beyond the statistics. “Unemployment is down because the government is engaging more people in the public service to buy their vote.”

Dr Busuttil said the school transport tax rebate for private and Church schools was not enough and the government should have considered providing free transport to give more encouragement to parents.

There’s no space for MPs to sit in new Parliament

A design flaw has left MPs with no space to sit in the new parliament building, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has revealed.

Accusing the government of “crass incompetence”, Dr Busuttil yesterday said the space between the desks and benches in the new building was too tight for anybody to be able to sit.

Builders had installed the seats and benches only to realise that nobody was able to sit down despite having taken the relevant measurements, he said.

This would further delay the opening of the new building, he added.