Simon Busuttil will be campaigning in favour of lower fuel prices that would reflect international oil markets. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Lowering the price of fuel, safeguarding the dignity of hospital patients and increasing government’s accountability will be the main priorities of the new shadow cabinet, PN leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday.

“In spite of being in Opposition we have already shown that we can make a difference. The resignation of Manuel Mallia as Home Affairs Minister and the government’s U-turn on its plan to cancel this year’s local elections is testament to this,” he added.

Dr Busuttil was speaking during a news conference in which he outlined the party’s priorities following last week’s reshuffle which saw the majority of former ministers relegated to the Opposition’s back bench.

Dr Busuttil argued that the two MEPs in the shadow cabinet would cope quite comfortably

Commenting on the inclusion of two MEPs in the shadow cabinet, he said they were focusing on the same areas assigned to them in the European Parliament. In view of this, he argued that they would be able to cope with the added responsibility quite comfortably.

Speaking on the three priorities, he said that energy spokeswoman Marthese Portelli, shadow minister for health Claudette Buttigieg and Jason Azzopardi, the justice and democracy spokesman, would have crucial roles to play.

Touching on the controversy about fuel prices, the PN leader warned that the Prime Minister would not be allowed to take the people for a ride by reducing prices by a cent or two. He reiterated the party’s criticism that current prices at the pumps did not reflect the trends in international oil markets.

“Excluding taxes, Malta has the highest petrol and diesel prices in Europe,” Dr Busuttil said.

The PN will be also targeting the health sector, with the PN leader expressing his concern that patients’ dignity in public hospitals was being undermined.

He said that, in spite of all the pledges that a Labour government would address the issue of overcrowding in hospitals, it had failed miserably.

“Two years down the line an increasing number of patients are being treated in corridors, with no privacy at all, to the point that nurses have to clean them with wipes” Dr Busuttil said.

The Opposition would not only try to expose this “incompetence” but would also strive to come up with its own ideas.

Turning to the third priority – government accountability – the PN leader criticised the government for keeping a series of contracts and agreements under wraps. These included energy agreements, the contract with Henley and Partners on the citizenship scheme and the findings of internal inquiries involving the police force.

“We have reverted to a government for whom transparency and information are not in the people’s interest,” he said.