The Opposition will not rest until the blatant theft families were facing whenever they bought petrol or diesel was stopped and fuel prices were reduced, Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil said this morning.

He was speaking during a meeting organised at the beginning of each year in Gozo.

Dr Busuttil said the government was stealing from the people whenever they bought fuel because of the Prime Minister’s failure.

He also spoke on the health sector and said that although Prime Minister Joseph Muscat did not care about the dignity of patients, the Opposition was to continue working for the sector to be addressed as soon as possible and would speak about prevention and healthy lifestyles.

The recently appointed shadow ministers were already working for the PN’s policy to be felt more in people’s lives.

On the reshuffle, he said this was made for the Opposition’s work to be more focused and better coordinated.

Dr Busuttil again explained his position on the hunting referendum which was to vote in favour of the derogation that had been obtained by the Nationalist government allowing hunting in spring.

He said the Nationalist Party would be taking a step back from the debate to let the people decide on their own how they should vote.

He said the Prime Minister would also be voting in favour of the derogation he had spoken so much against because he was an opportunist.

The Opposition leader also spoke about the forthcoming council elections and said that while candidates were already being approved, work had also started on the drawing up of electoral programmes for the different localities.

“Although the government wants to stifle councils, we want to explain to residents what we plan to do in their localities,” he said.