Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil and Partit Demokratiku leader Marlene Farrugia are in discussions to create an Opposition that will present a united force to the electorate and offer an alternative government based on good governance, they have told The Sunday Times of Malta

Discussions are focusing on setting down the core principles that will best serve the national interest in the upcoming general election, as well as afterwards – if the parties form an alternative government. 

Dr Farrugia confirmed this when asked if she was considering heeding Dr Busuttil’s call for a ‘Coalition against Corruption’, which he made during recent Independence Day celebrations.   

We are in discussions to establish basic principles that can bring together all those who don’t agree with the way this government is running the country, in order to create a strong opposition that can stop the rampage,” Dr Farrugia said. 

In separate comments to this newspaper, both Dr Farrugia and Dr Busuttil defined these principles as good governance, real social justice and environmental sustainability.  “What’s emerged so far from these discussions is that there is nothing fundamentally different in what we aspire to for the country,” she added.   

The move comes after another person associated with Partit Demokratiku, TV personality and political commentator Salvu Mallia, expressed his interest in being a candidate for the PN in the election. Dr Busuttil told The Sunday Times of Malta he will be proposing Mr Mallia’s candidature for approval within the party structures “in the coming days”. 

PD associate Salvu Mallia has also expressed interest in being a PN candidate.PD associate Salvu Mallia has also expressed interest in being a PN candidate.

He said the call for a united front against corruption was gathering momentum and attracting many people from outside PN circles, including Mr Mallia and people who had voted Labour all their lives.  “This is a call to people who share the same feeling that Joseph Muscat has now crossed the line of decency and lost the moral authority to run this country.

“When a Prime Minister fails to sack his closest collaborators when they’re caught red-handed with a secret company in Panama intended to park their commissions, the problem is not his closest collaborators, the problem becomes the Prime Minister,” he said.   

Dr Busuttil has made it his political mission to clean up politics. It is one shared by Dr Farrugia, who said she had worked to elect the Labour Party because it had promised a transparent, meritocratic and accountable government.

She admits she, and those who had believed Dr Muscat’s promises, had been “taken for a ride”.  “I will do whatever it takes to deliver the good governance the people thought they were voting for in 2013 and which our country needs and deserves,” she said.

She added that she had wished not to in the next election. “But with the way things have turned out, I have no choice. Like I was there to help elect this thieving government, now I have to be there to bring it down.” 

Asked if this referred to the possibility of a coalition government given a successful, unified effort, Dr Farrugia said it was yet to be seen how the marriage of forces would materialise.

She said what the PD wanted to present in its electoral manifesto was what it wanted to see in the PN manifesto.  She stressed the priority was the national interest. “At the moment, what that means is that the government must be stopped. The attitude adopted where everything goes and corruption is acceptable has to end. For us to stop them, there has to be a viable alternative, honest government,” she said. 

If the PD grew in such a way that it could contribute to this national alliance on its own steam, it would need to consider how it could contribute to the Opposition – all of it – winning an absolute majority. “It’s pointless for us to take votes from the PN, allowing this government to stay in place. This won’t happen. We will do whatever is needed for the Opposition to present itself to the electorate as a united force, so the majority that wants good governance can be represented and govern,” she said. 

Dr Busuttil said the PN was offering a clear and public commitment in favour of good governance, social justice and a better quality of life. The Panama scandal was one in a series that have rocked the government. However, it tops other revelations, such as the Gaffarena scandal, the Café Premier scandal and that related to Australia Hall.  

Recently, concern was also raised because the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, stands to gain from a $100 million investment by US currency printers Crane Currency. Kasco Technical, owned by Mr Schembri, is the official Maltese distributor of its printing machines

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.