The Labour government has taken the country back to feudal times, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said in reaction to a Greco report.
The report, by the Group of States Against Corruption, noted Maltese legislation - three-quarters of which was enacted under a Nationalist government - was good on paper, Dr Delia said. However, "there was a total disaster" once steps against those implicated in wrong-doing needed to be taken.
The report was published Wednesday, after the government delayed publishing it immediately since "it was being studied".
Judge Giovanni Bonello said a country could have the best constitution in the world, but it was worth nothing if it was being led by crooks, Dr Delia said.
Noting the report was one condemnation after another, Dr Delia said the effectiveness of the country's institutions had been hampered after the Prime Minister appointed people who failed to do their job.
Turning to reports that the public prosecutor was to be a government appointee, Dr Delia said instead of one person being pulled by strings, there would be two.
The government has said it would be hiving off the prosecution role from the Attorney General’s functions, implementing a recommendation by the Venice Commission.
"Things aren’t done that way. We are no fools and you are not pulling our leg. You either implement all the recommendations and implement them well or don’t implement them at all," the Opposition leader said.
The country, he said, was worse than it was in the 1980s. Instead of a Malta for everyone, there was now a Malta that was only for them, he said, referring to the Labour party's electoral slogan Malta Tagħna Lkoll.
At the end of his address, the Opposition leader said the PN would not lose heart. He encouraged others not to lose hope and to stand to convince others.
"This is not a fight against Labour. This is a fight for Malta, for Nationalists and for true Labourites. Let us protect our national identity so that we can truly say that Malta has truly been given to everyone," he said.