Updated September 20 - Added correction
A Ministry for People’s Rights under a PN government would help eliminate injustices, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said this evening.
Addressing a political activity in Floriana, Dr Busuttil said the ministry would serve as a centralised place where people could air their grievances.
This would eliminate the need to go “begging” to various people in order overcomes these injustices.
Dr Busuttil said people who were not served by this ministry could then refer their case to the Ombudsman. The Opposition leader said the PN would bind itself to respect the Ombudsman’s decisions.
He said the PN would offer a voice to all those who had suffered injustices. People were facing discrimination on a daily basis due to their political beliefs, Dr Busuttil said.
Politics was a way of protecting people and serving as their voice, Dr Busuttil said.
Labourites who were not part of the inner-circle were also facing discrimination, Dr Busuttil said.
Dr Busuttil said the PN had served as the people’s voice during the numerous scandals the government had been embroiled in.
A number of Labourites had noticed that the government was not looking out for its interests, the Opposition leader said. He said they were noticing that the PL had become false and was selling itself to a few millionaires.
Switchers who noticed that they had been duped by the PL would be welcomed back into the PN’s fold, Dr Busuttil said.
Former PN MP Josie Muscat, a surprise guest at the political activity, slammed the government for favouring foreign investment over local investment in the healthcare sector.
Foreign investment was necessary but should not crowd out local investors, Dr Muscat, who chairs the Saint James Hospital Group, said.
Dr Muscat said that private and state healthcare issues should both fall under the health minister's remit.
He called it a shame if private hospitals were to stop investing in advanced treatments.
Dr Muscat called it “almost communist and dictatorial” that people had to pay national insurance yet were not given compensation when paying to use a private hospital.
He said Malta had the potential to become a hub for medical tourism in the Mediterranean.
Correction: This article was amended at 12.40pm on September 20 to reflect the fact that Dr Muscat called for public and private healthcare to both fall under the health minister's remit.