Opposition leader Adrian Delia was quick to hit out at the government “backroom dealings” on Sunday, but made no mention of revelations by The Sunday Times of Malta that two PN MPs close to the party leadership met 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech over a potential sponsorship deal.
PN MP Jason Azzopardi slammed revelations about the meeting in a cryptic post on twitter.
“How can you even thing of being credible on corruption if you, whilst criticising the corruptor, meet him behind the backs of your team mates & the public? Not to mention the possibility of being criminal accomplices”, Dr Azzopardi said.
How can you even think of being credible on corruption if you, whilst criticizing the corruptor, meet him behind the backs of your team mates & the public? Not to mention the possibility of being criminal accomplices
— Jason Azzopardi (@AzzopardiJason) April 7, 2019
During a political activity in Gozo, Dr Delia accused the Prime Minister of only being concerned with big business.
On Greco’s damning report on Malta, Dr Delia said the country’s institutions were clearly failing in their duties.
He said the government’s power to appoint the Police Commissioner meant it effectively controlled the police force.
Dr Delia also slammed the Attorney General for failing to protect citizens when the government signed off on the Vitals deal handing over three public hospitals to anonymous businessmen.
No to abortion
Dr Delia also unequivocally declared that under no circumstances would the Nationalist Party agree to the introduction of abortion.
The Opposition leader said he had no problem declaring the PN’s opposition to its introduction, even if this meant Malta was the only country in the world not to legalise it.
“We believe in life from conception to its natural end… For the government, a baby in the womb is just eight cells. For us, those eight cells are everything”, he said.
The Opposition leader spent much of his speech expressing his agreement with various points raised by President George Vella during his inauguration speech.
He highlighted how Dr Vella said the economy should be a just and equitable one, and said the President had identified how a supposedly socialist government had turned its back on society.
Dr Delia accused the Prime Minister of importing “slaves” who were exploited and given a net pay of €400 a month.
He clarified that the PN was not against foreign workers, saying those workers should have good jobs in good conditions.
“This is about treating humans as humans. Muscat is only concerned about balancing the books. He is not even managing that now, as the year ended with a deficit”, Dr Delia said.
The Opposition leader questioned how solutions for pensions, infrastructure and social housing could be found when there was a deficit, given that these problems were not even solved when the exchequer was running a surplus.
Dr Delia accused the government of shunning pensioners who were facing ever increasing hardships.
Some pensioners, he said, were facing an explosion in their rents.
He said everyone had a right to have a roof over his head and this was a problem that needed to be solved by the government.
Dr Delia questioned how many foreigners were needed to keep pensions sustainable. He said the government had not plan about future pension.
“Joseph Muscat knew he was going to spend 10 years in power and leave. Other will then have to suffer the consequences”, he said.