Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil said the party will shortly have to convince people it was an alternative government and not only a strong Opposition.
Dr Busuttil’s bold statement came during a dialogue with grassroots at the start of the Independence Day celebrations on the Granaries yesterday, just six months after the PN lost the election in a big way.
“We have to speak to the people in an honest way by acknowledging the good things done by the Government but being tough when we believe things are wrong. But shortly we will have to go a step further and prove we are also an alternative government,” he said.
The traditional PN celebrations have been reduced to a four-day event this year in the wake of the party’s financial difficulties that saw it lay off workers over the summer months.
But there was no reference to the party’s internal problems yesterday as Dr Busuttil and every other speaker trained their guns on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Labour’s first six months in government.
Dr Busuttil opened proceedings by taking a dig at the Labour Party’s electoral slogan “Malta for All”, saying it had become the butt of many jokes.
“Who today believes that Malta is truly for all after the partisan appointments made to government boards? Mr Prime Minister, Malta is ours as well,” Dr Busuttil said to applause.
A young supporter later reflected this sentiment when he accused the Government of running roughshod over Nationalists, citing the recent army promotions as an example. The man urged the PN leadership to do something about it.
Dr Busuttil insisted the PN had to tell things as they were and accused Dr Muscat of governing in a confused way with no roadmap. “I think he neither has a road nor a map.”
The PN leader insisted the Government had rescinded on its promise to champion meritocracy and transparency, criticising the memorandum of understanding signed with a Chinese state-owned energy firm for the part-privatisation of Enemalta.
“How transparent is it to announce from the other side of the world the privatisation of Enemalta, a deal reached behind everybody’s back?”
It was unacceptable for the energy minister’s wife to then be employed at Malta Enterprise as an envoy for investment from China, he added.
Supporters were also addressed by PN parliamentary affairs deputy leader Mario de Marco and four candidates for the European Parliament election next year.
The celebrations will climax on Saturday, Independence Day proper, with a mass meeting.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com