Simon Busuttil. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

11.25am Updated with PL statement

Maltese institutions have been “hijacked” by a government with “no moral compass”, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said this morning.

Citing the ongoing Panama Papers scandal, controversy over a no confidence motion and allegations that people buying Maltese passports are being automatically added to the electoral register, Dr Busuttil told Radio 101 that “dirty politics lead to bad governance”.

“Of course the government cannot focus on people’s everyday concerns. They’re too busy filing libel suits and fighting scandals,” he said in an interview on Radio 101.

Minister without portfolio Konrad Mizzi said on Friday that he would be suing Dr Busuttil and PN MPs Jason Azzopardi and Marthese Portelli over allegations surrounding Enemalta’s buyout by Shanghai Electric.

The PN had said there was a “strong whiff of corruption” about the deal, after claims emerged that a Chinese official involved in facilitating the buyout had used Nexia BT, the financial services firm used by Dr Mizzi and Prime Ministerial chief of staff Keith Schembri, to set up an offshore company of his own.

“Every right-thinking person would think there’s something that stinks about this deal,” Dr Busuttil said today.

Dr Busuttil also defended the PN’s traffic proposals, saying they were “short-term fixes” that could help ease gridlock while longer term solutions were found.

The 35 proposals were met with general indifference, with the Labour party dismissing them as "shooting from the hip" and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat mocking them as "a plan to make a plan". 

Dr Busuttil dismissed Transport Minister Joe Mizzi as “probably the government’s most incompetent minister,” before going on to admit that “traffic didn’t start under this government.”

But, the PN leader added, “not only did they fail to solve it: it’s gotten worse.”

'The only collapse is the PN's' - Labour

Dr Busuttil's eagerness to spoil investment in Malta meant he was actively working against Maltese families and businesses, the PL said in a statement. 

"The only collapse in our country is the PN's political collapse, as it's mired in negativity and bitterness towards anything that is going well," the PL said. 

The PL said that Caritas' report was proof that poverty was being reduced, even if Dr Busuttil refused to accept it. Dr Busuttil had earlier highlighted part of the report that found that the cost of a basket of foodstuffs for a family with two children now cost almost €1,000 more than it did four years ago.