Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said today that three years after having taken over as PN leader, he was promising a different style of government based on honesty from which everyone would benefit.
Addressing the final session of the PN general council meeting, Dr Busuttil reflected on his decision three years ago to become PN leader, saying it had been a difficult decision because, contrary to somebody else, when he took over, the PN was at a low ebb rather than having lost the election by a few hundred votes. He had decided to lead the PN out of a sense of duty to the country, and he expected the same of everyone in the interests of the country.
He had promised three years ago a different Nationalist Party where people knew where they stood and where honesty was the best policy. This was even before the rapid succession of government scandals.
SUCCESSFUL LOANS SCHEME
He had also promised to re-organise the PN, bring in new people and more women and strengthen the party's media and finances. Progress had made made, thanks to the people's support and contributions. The Cedoli loans scheme was one measure to restore the party's finances and reduce its debt servicing costs. The party had waited for the Party Funding Law to ensure that it abided strictly by it. It was a very transparent scheme which left the PN with no obligations to anyone.
It was because the scheme was serious and very successful - with people queuing to participate - that Labour was panicking about it. Anne Fenech deserved praise for her work to bring it about.
He had also promised, Dr Busuttil recalled, to bring the party closer to the people. This was what he enjoyed most, because his home visits gave him an insight into what the people expected and wanted.
What he asked the people he visited was to give him the opportunity to win their confidence.
Another of his promises, Dr Busuttil said, was for the PN to be an effective Opposition. Indeed, this was the best Opposition in years, giving a voice to the people, winning their hearts and minds and safeguarding democracy.
The Opposition did not just criticise, but also came out with its own ideas, the most recent example being the proposals on transport. The opposition was coming out with ideas, and the transport minister had lost the plot.
TRANSPORT MINISTRY INVOLVED IN SALT PRODUCTION
One example was how the transport minister confirmed in reply to a parliamentary question that his ministry would involve itself in the production of salt at Salina. Maybe this was a consequence of minister Joe Mizzi not having found the oil he had promised, Dr Busuttil remarked.
The Opposition had also issued its own pre-budget document and a report on the economy, among others, and its bills on healthy lifestyles and property in the public domain had become laws.
This showed how the Opposition was shaping up to become an alternative government, relevant to today's needs. It was for this reason that the PN had narrowed the gap to Labour and would seriously challenge at the next general election.
NEW PROMISE
His new promise, Dr Busuttil said, was to give Malta a government that was different from the past and certainly different from the current one. It would be a government based on honesty, truth and values.
An honest policy was something everyone would benefit from.
Dr Busuttil said lies by the government were an insult to all and he mocked the prime minister for having told a London anti-corruption conference that he had taken tough decisions on the Panama Papers. The prime minister, he said, had not taken decisions at all, and his inaction had ridiculed Malta. His statements were irresponsible and damaging to the country, not least because one and all could see, in Malta and abroad, that he did not respect the truth.
Rather than taking decisions, the government had launched a series of attacks on Opposition officials, with the common thread being that they were based on untruths and deception.
The people, Dr Busuttil stressed, should not generalise when they spoke about politicians.
"We are different, we are promising honest politics" he said, adding this would include independent and strong institutions rather than the current situation where the Police and the Customs authorities made no investigations about the Panama Papers and the suspicion of corruption, tax evasion and money laundering.
How could the government expect the people to pay taxes when the prime minister's chief of staff was allowed to act in this way?
Honest politics meant a strong economy where the wealth it generated was distributed among all the people and not just a few, Dr Busuttil said. The present government, he said, found the funds for what it needed, but then cancer patients had to beg the Community Chest Fund
A new PN government would be different because it would be based on honesty, from which everyone would benefit.
His mission, Dr Busuttil said, was not to win the election at all costs but to clean up politics. That itself would lead to victory.
At the beginning of his address Dr Busuttil thanked and praised Ira Losco for her 'exceptional' performance at the Eurovision Song Contest yesterday.