Opposition leader Simon Busuttil hit out at the Labour Party’s daily tent meetings, asking who was financing the party.
“Where is the Labour Party getting the money to finance the daily tent meetings? This raises questions on how the party is being financed,” he said.
Addressing supporters in Għajnsielem as part of the local elections campaign, Dr Busuttil said yesterday Joseph Muscat’s government was involved in too much intrigue that gave rise to “pungent smells”.
He focused on what he described as the Prime Minister’s brand of politics built on lack of transparency, lies and deceit.
Dr Busuttil insisted he wanted to do better than the Prime Minister and invited Nationalist Party supporters to join him.
“It is useless being like him [Dr Muscat]. We can beat him by walking down the path of truth,” he said.
Dr Busuttil also raised questions about the €200 million investment in health announced by the government last week. He said Health Minister Konrad Mizzi’s involvement in these type of contracts was always characterised by “playing with the truth”.
Appointing Cyrus Engerer because he is a soldier of steel sends out the wrong message
“We welcome every investment... But we do not know yet who will invest and whether the investment will truly amount to €200 million. Konrad Mizzi has quantified the investment even before the request for proposals has been issued. I hope the minister does not know to whom he will give the contract.”
Dr Busuttil accused the government of turning the Maltese EU-representative office in Brussels into a Labour Party club. He said the appointment of Cyrus Engerer as the Prime Minister’s representative at Dar Malta in the Belgian capital was “wrong”.
“Appointing Cyrus Engerer because he is a soldier of steel sends out the wrong message to those who study and graduate and expect to be evaluated on their abilities,” Dr Busuttil said to applause. He insisted the central government should not be the be-all-and-end-all of everything and criticised the decision to remove health and education from the Gozo Ministry’s remit.
Dr Busuttil took up the plight of pensioners, insisting economic wealth was not reaching them. “Our politics has to be different and ensure the just redistribution of wealth.”
The country needed a “clear, strong” alternative to Dr Muscat’s politics, he added. “People are expecting us to do politics differently.”
Referring to the debate he had last week with the Prime Minister on Times Talk, he pointed out that an assessment by two observers – sociologist Michael Briguglio and columnist Martin Scicluna – gave the government a fail in its first two years.
“There is a problem that, after only two years, when a government is supposed to be full of energy and enthusiasm, it has already failed. Politics has to be built on honesty and truth. This is the crucial difference between us and Muscat,” Dr Busuttil said.