Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning that the government would tackle the issue of governance head-on and, he added, the leader of the opposition had no moral authority to speak about the subject.

In the past, he said, Dr Busuttil occupied important positions when some of the worst political and corruption scandals rocked Malta, and he did not speak up. Had he been man enough, he would have resigned at the time, but instead, he stood silent and could therefore be considered an accomplice.

Furthermore, when he faced the first case known so far of people who reported corruption to him, Dr Busuttil  did not report to the police but told those before him that they should not have acted in the way they did, since they knew that the PN would lose the election.  

Dr Muscat said it was the present government which, thanks to its record of change, enjoyed the moral authority to show that it could learn its own lessons, admit it was not perfect, and carry out more change, even in the areas of transparency and governance. 

He could produce a whole list of scandals which took place when Dr Busuttil was in a position of responsibility, he said, but the people were not interested in the past, because they had given up on the Nationalist Party.

Rather, they were interested in the future and had confidence in the government, which continued to enjoy strong support.

The members of the present government assumed political responsibility, and he thanked Manuel Mallia and Michael Falzon for their decisions. He said he wanted to thank them from the bottom of his heart.

Dr Busuttil only wished to have the sort of people which the Labour movement had, he said. The PL would retain what it had and more would jump from PN to Labour because they were seeing a movement for the future, he said.  

Dr Muscat focused his speech - at the Orpheum Theatre in Gzira - on  the process of change for the party and the country.

He had said that change carried risks, but the party had needed to get out of its shell and not live in the past, recognizing, for example, the new family forms and the need for new civil liberties such as divorce. 

Since then much change had been made as the party opened up to people who did not necessarily always agree with it.

The country's own direction had also changed.

Malta now had a stable government, the economy, which 'had been falling to bits' now was the fastest growing in Europe. Youths were finding jobs and unemployment was at its lowest in 30 years and more women were working thanks to free childcare.

Dr Muscat also spoke on other government achievements, including lower electricity and water tariffs and electricity production which was free of corruption - that was real corruption which others knew of but did nothing about, he said. Enemalta was being transformed to a company that would yield profit after having been a millstone for the economy.

Even Gozo Channel, which operated in a monopoly had been making losses and was now making a profit. 

This government, he said, had narrowed the national deficit while actually reducing taxes for all, and raising pensions. 

The government was working like never before in partnership with the private sector. It was opening new avenues in the education sector, not least for those who did not achieve grades and were given a fresh chance.

Dr Muscat said Labour was the founder of the welfare state, but it had a duty and the spine to stand up to those who abused. It had also acted against precarious working conditions and was enforcing the law on the employment of people with disabilities. 400 people with disabilities found jobs over the past year.

Malta was now heard in Europe over migration, the number of migrants had dropped drastically and this government had however also acted to stop the exploitation of such migrants. 

Dr Muscat said the investments in the medical school in Gozo and the university in Marsascala would being about much investment.

The present government had given equal rights to the gay community, showing itself it was an international pioneer in this area. 

In the health sector, the problem of shortage of medicines had been solved and new sections were being built to have more beds. Soon, one would know more how Mater Dei was actually built, he said, in what appeared to be a reference to the controversy over weak concrete. 

On Air Malta, Dr Muscat said the government was committed to ensuring that by the end of the legislature, the airline would be on its feet. 

Dr Muscat said consultations by the government were meaningful and decisions were changed sometimes, as in the case of Zonqor.

The government had no problem speaking about governance, Dr Muscat said. "We will face this issue head-on because we want to show that we are changing direction and will continue to change," he said.

In the past it was those who reported above who ended up being persecuted, he said. Now they had the protection of the Whistleblower Act and politicians had no prescription protection for corruption.