Rising public sector employment threatens the country’s financial wellbeing but a future Nationalist government would not kick people out, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has pledged.
In a radio interview yesterday, Dr Busuttil said he did not blame the people who were employed by the current administration but criticised the government for fiscal irresponsibility.
“These people were offered a job and they took it... it is not their fault and I am not saying we will chop heads,” he told Għandi xi ngħid host Andrew Azzopardi on Radju Malta 2.
Pinning the blame on the government’s pre-electoral promises “to buy votes”, Dr Busuttil said the employment of 4,400 people with the public sector since the election was a strain on public coffers.
When asked whether all the jobs were unnecessary, Dr Busuttil pointed his finger at Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi’s wife Sai, who was engaged as a special envoy to China by Malta Enterprise, insisting her engagement was not needed.
The government and the Opposition have locked horns over statistics that showed how public sector employment increased by 2,400 since the election.
The government defended the numbers, saying the new jobs were in key sectors such as education and health.
However, the Opposition criticised the government for failing to abide by its EU commitment to cut public sector employment. It insisted that apart from the additional new jobs, the government also employed a further 2,000 to replace those who retired throughout the year – this is why the Opposition said the government employed 4,400 people.
These people were offered a job and they took it... it is not their fault
The interview touched on various topics but when asked about solutions for traffic and the Armier illegal boathouses, Dr Busuttil insisted with the presenter to put those questions to the government.
“It has only been 20 months and you are already asking the Opposition for its solutions... you should be asking for solutions from the government that was elected on the promise that it had a roadmap for solving the traffic problem,” he rebutted.
On the Armier boathouses, Dr Busuttil said it made no sense asking the PN how it would act when in government since the current problem concerned the legitimisation of these shacks with the installation of smart meters. “When the time is right rest assured we will go to the people with clear proposals and plans,” he answered.
When it was pointed out that his predecessor Lawrence Gonzi had entered into commitments to regularise the illegal buildings, Dr Busuttil insisted he did not want to make the same mistakes of the past, without elaborating further.