The Prime Minister's decision to travel to Singapore with minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri is in 'bad taste' in view of the Panama Papers scandal, and shows that Dr Muscat has no shame, Simon Busuttil said this morning.
The Opposition leader also said that Dr Muscat is refusingan Opposition proposal for Prime Minister's Questions to be introduced once weekly in Parliament.
"It shows he lacks transparency, he fears questions in the same way as he has refused to face me on Xarabank for two years," the Opposition leader told a Radio 101 interviewer this morning.
Dr Busuttil said changes to parliament's Standing Orders - due to be debated in the House tomorrow - reflected the government's mentality of holding control over everything and everyone.
Although the government had been elected with a nine-seat majority, instead of parliament being given more powers and a stronger voice, the government was reducing MPs' speaking time and easing quorum rules. Voting was being limited to Wednesdays only, so that ministers could continue to do what they wished.
It was one thing to limit voting to one day when a government had a one-seat majority but ministers still needed to attend meetings abroad, Dr Busuttil said. But it was a contradiction to fine MPs €50 for every parliamentary day they missed - something he agreed with - and then to limit voting to a pre-determined day.
Dr Busuttil said that while the government said the economy was growing, the benefits were not trickling down to ordinary people.
"Once the economy is growing, why do cancer patients need to plead for their medicines before the Community Chest Fund?"
He said he was shocked that the prime minister had said he did not want to see further growth at Malta Freeport - when this was an essential element in the economy.
The model followed by Malta Freeport needed to be adopted for other sectors such as aviation, information technology and financial services by offering not only transport for containers but similar integrated facilities in those sectors, Dr Busuttil said.
Dr Busuttil hit out at the government for squandering money in the engagement of people on positions of trust and for vote-catching.
He said the news in The Sunday Times of Malta that the prime minister would travel to Singapore with minister Konrad Mizzi and Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, both involved in the Panama scandal, was in bad taste and showed how the prime minister had no shame.
Who was that investor would could feel comfortable before Konrad Mizzi when he had set up a secret company in Panama? Investors' obvious question was whether they had to fork out something to get things done, Dr Busuttil said.
Actions such as this Singapore trip with Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri therefore posed a reputational risk for Malta, Dr Busuttil said.