Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this morning shot down a Nationalist Party proposal for it to be given financial compensation for the disadvantage it says it is suffering because of the Labour Party’s use of properties owned by the state or requisitioned from the public sector.

The proposal was made by PN General Secretary Chris Said in Parliament on Wednesday. He said it was not enough to have a party funding law, and the parties needed to be on a level playing field. At present the PN was at a disadvantage because the PL was profiting from properties which did not actually belong to it. (See http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141029/local/opposition-to-propose-financial-compensation-to-political-parties-for-discrimination-by-the-state.541836 )

Speaking at a political conference this morning, Dr Muscat said  this proposal did not make sense. If anything, in order to be taken seriously, what the PN could have asked for was for those properties to be returned to their owners, and not for financial compensation to be given to it, instead of the owners.

His reply, Dr Muscat said, was that this was an issue which had existed for years and about which there were court cases. The PL would abide by the law and the decisions of the court.

But it was ironic, he said, that this proposal had come days after the PN indicated it wanted to see a raise in social security contributions by the introduction of second pillar pensions. Therefore, the PN wanted the people to pay more taxes, and it wanted to profit from those taxes.

Rather than wanting to receive taxpayers’ money, the PN should publish its audited accounts. It had not done so for the past 25 years. It had not given an account of the donations it got for the building of its headquarters. What had become of the money handed out in thousands at PN coffee mornings?

In his address Dr Muscat said the government would keep its promises and electoral pledges, The forthcoming Budget, he said, was aimed at further boosting the economy, because that was the key to helping the needy and those who worked hard.

The people, he said, were seeing the change the governemnt was bringing about, not only through official data, but also their pocket.

They only needed to remember the state of the country 18 months ago, when the government was unable to govern because it did not enjoy a parliamentary majority. At least this government was being criticised over its decisions, not its lack of decision-making.

Labour was staying close to the people and taking both major decisions as well as minor ones which had a bearing on the people’s everyday life, such as having road works being carried out at night.

The biggest achievement of the past 18 months was in job creation, and unemployment was now at a historic low . This was the result of Budget measures introduced last year which had boosted the economy and reversed unemployment trends, silencing the Opposition.  

The forthcoming Budget would continue to set economic direction for the country in the context of a scenario which was in constant improvement, as evidenced most recently in the Moody’s report which described the economy as robust and healthy. There was nothing in the report about the ‘bailout’ which the Opposition leader had warned the country about before the general election.  

Dr Muscat referred to his visit to Singapore last week to promote the Citizenship scheme, and said that while the political systems were different, there was no reason why Malta could not emulate Singapore in the Mediterranean.

He was confident that results of collaboration between Malta and Singapore would bear fruit in the coming months, So too would be the success of the Citizenship Scheme. A substantial part of revenue from this scheme would be put aside in a national wealth fund. That would be this government’s legacy, giving the country the elbow room to invest in its future.  

Turning to the issue of  a controversial €35m PV panels contract awarded by George Pullicino’s ministry shortly before the general election, Dr Muscat said Dr Busuttil was continuously shifting position over whether he would defend the former minister.

This contract, he said was extremely worrying It was based on a letter from a bank whose veracity the same bank could  not  confirm as it was not signed and the bank at the time did not  exist as it had been taken over. This would have been unacceptable even in a street cleaning contract.  

Mr Pullicino had denied responsibility, yet he had personally delivered the contract approval. The Contracts Department had declared that Mr Pullicino’s ministry told it not to intervene.

In November two years ago, in reply to a parliamentary question, Mr Pullicino had said the contract was in an advanced stage, when it was actually concluded two months previously.

This was a situation which Dr Busuttil was defending. More would be heard about this in the coming months, all in good time, and all those who would be held responsible would be held to account, Dr Muscat said.

PN REACTION

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said it had always insisted that the PL should return the properties it ‘stole’ from the people.

It noted that in his address Dr Muscat said nothing about his 'pet project,' which was the new power station, or the 58c cost of living increase.