The pre-election promise made by Joseph Muscat to hawkers that they could move to the capital city’s entrance proved the party in government had sold its soul to win an election,  Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said this afternoon.

Addressing the media before Renzo Piano’s new Parliament building, Dr Busuttil said locating the hawkers in the vicinity of the Piano project did not make sense, not only from a cultural and aesthetic point of view but also for security reasons.

He appealed to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat not to pursue this decision, making it clear that a Nationalist government would not permit hawkers to set up in any part of Ordnance Street. Instead, discussions with hawkers would be held to seek an alternative solution.

“It is clear this was an agreement the Labour Party made before the election. The government was boasting about the new set up until there was a public outcry when the stall designs emerged, which can only be described as mediocre,” Dr Busuttil said.

The press conference was also attended by Valletta Mayor Alexei Dingli, PN culture spokesman Joe Cassar and former Maltese ambassador to France Vicki-Ann Cremona.

Dr Busuttil said culture was a priority for the PN, on the same level as education and health. He pointed out the former Nationalist administration had commissioned a world class architect to overhaul the entrance to the City - a project Dr Muscat criticised from the start.

“We did this not because of the upcoming EU presidency, or V18, but because we wanted to celebrate our culture which is our identity,” Dr Busuttil said.

He said the project was now being attacked by a government that never gave the project its due importance.

“From the start, Dr Muscat said this was a waste of money. Yet €100 million spent on his Cabinet was not a waste of resources,” the Opposition leader said.
Dr Busuttil referred to other examples of how this government was undermining culture, not least the decision to turn Valletta ditch into a car park rather than a garden as intended in Renzo Piano’s design. 

He said that while it was true that the former government had considered moving the market to Ordnance Street, it would not have spilled between the new Parliament and the former Opera House.

Furthermore, no such promises had been made in the Electoral Programme and he, as the new leader, was against moving the market to any part of Ordnance Street. 

PL PUBLISHES EMAIL BY FORMER MINISTER

In a reaction, the Labour Party said that Simon Busuttil, then deputy leader of the PN, had promised to have the market in Ordnance Street.

It published an e-mail by Jason Azzopardi, then minister responsible for lands, which, it said showed how the PN had promised to relocate the market to Ordnance Street. Dr Busuttil was now trying to make the people forget the commitment his party had made when he was deputy leader.

In saying today that he did not want the market in Ordnance Street, he had not offered an alternative the PL said.

Dr Busuttiil was hostage of his inconsistency and that of his shadow minister Jason Azzopardi.

See pdf below

PN CHALLENGES LABOUR TO PUBLISH ITS AGREEMENT WITH THE HAWKERS

In a reply, the Nationalist Party said the e-mail which the Labour Party had published showed how the PN had made it clear to the Monti hawkers that they could not put up their stalls near the new parliament building.

Furthermore, it had been made clear by Dr Busuttil today that the PN now had a new leader who disagreed that the market should be anywhere near the Piano project.

Once Labour had been so keen to publish the email by Dr Azzopardi, the PN said it was now challenging the prime minister to publish the agreement which the Labour Party had reached with the hawkers in the week before the general election.