The Prime Minister should have persuaded Brussels to treat Malta like Italy and Greece to relocate migrants to other member states under an emergency mechanism, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday.

“While I acknowledge that in the last year there have been few arrivals due to the Italian humanitarian mission Mare Nostrum, it is also true that for the past 15 years Malta has been receiving a disproportionately high number of migrants,” Dr Busuttil said.

The PN leader was critical in the wake of the government’s decision to accept 292 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece under emergency plans rolled out last week by the European Commission.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela justified the decision by saying that Malta in the moment of truth could not retract its argument in favour of solidarity and burden sharing.

It is also true that for the past 15 years Malta has been receiving a disproportionately high number of migrants

Interviewed on RTK Radio, Dr Busuttil welcomed the EU’s action but said the Prime Minister lacked the political clout to garner enough support for Malta’s case.

After years of harping on the need for the so-called burden sharing concept, Malta ended up accepting migrants who had landed in other countries.

Asked about his first two years as PN leader, Dr Busuttil said his biggest achievement so far had been to change the public perception on his party.

He claimed that people were no longer writing off the PN’s chances of winning the next general election in spite of having suffered a landslide defeat in 2013.

He said one of his toughest decisions was to reshuffle the shadow Cabinet, as it meant asking long-serving MPs and former ministers to make way for others.

“I could not go for the next general election with the same team in place two years ago,” he said.

However, Dr Busuttil offered a lifeline to members of the old guard, saying that he would still consider them for a Cabinet post if the PN were to be elected in government.