Updated 1.30pm - Added PL statement
A Nationalist government would reverse all laws passed through Parliament by Labour “to destroy life”, Adrian Delia told PN supporters this morning.
Speaking in Żebbuġ, Dr Delia accused the government of avoiding the term ‘unborn child’ during the IVF Bill debate, saying it did so because it wants to remove the protection that this vulnerable life enjoys under a separate domestic violence bill.
“The Embryo Protection Act will drastically change Maltese society in 20 to 30 years,” Dr Delia warned.
“The government, to quote Michael Briguglio, will be changing our country into a soulless state, where people are considered as numbers, or in other words, voters.
“The government wants to turn unborn children into products and women into objects that are used by third parties without any safeguarding of human dignity,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat did not really want to protect women or believe in equality and children’s rights.
While the government was only concerned with gaining votes, every life counted for the PN.
“The Nationalist party will fight for that voiceless life and that voiceless unborn child. If the PN is elected to government, we will ensure that all laws enacted by this government to destroy life will be reversed.”
Dr Delia's words prompted a critical reply from the Labour Party, which said his pledge to roll back laws would end all hopes for couples struggling with infertility issues.
The PL noted that Dr Delia had previously promised to allow MPs a free vote on the issue, and said this now all seemed like a charade.
"He should have the courage to call for the entire Opposition to vote against," the PL said.
In his address, the PN leader listed a series of “realities” that he was concerned about.
This included a pensioner he met this week who did not know how to make ends meet until the end of the month and a single mother of an 11-year-old with ADHD who has missed school for five months because of a shortage of LSAs.
“I’m pro the life of a man going through separation who has to work 90 hours a week in order to be able to pay child maintenance, and the 17-year-old youth who blew the whistle on corruption and was brushed aside by our sports system.
“I’m pro the life of a woman who has been suffering fibromyalgia symptoms for 26 years but does not afford treatment.
“I’m pro the life of a journalist who was killed when she spoke up,” he said to applause.
Daphne Project
Dr Delia referred to revelations by the Daphne Project this week which he said showed that Malta had been turned into a casino.
It was worrying that Dr Muscat, despite his strong mandate, had not asked Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri to step aside, "just as he had done with [Speaker] Anglu Farrugia, [Valletta 2018 chairman] Jason Micallef and many others," the PN leader said.
“Did Muscat know about these lies? When he got to know, what did he do? Absolutely nothing, and this is damaging our country. People are feeling the brunt of the damage and they are turning to the Nationalist Party.”