Opposition leader Adrian Delia on Sunday called on Nationalist Party supporters to come together to “save the nation and be on the right side of history”.
Addressing supporters at St Paul’s Bay, Dr Delia said that people could not continue to stand by and watch the country’s reputation being tarnished.
“If in this moment we cannot be there for our country, then we would be letting our country down. But if we own this message and make it our own, understanding that this is what the country needs, then the party will be on the right side of history and one which will save our nation,” Dr Delia said, pointing to the rule of law and how this was crucial for the functioning of a democratic country.
Dr Delia said that the Labour government’s promises were evidently not being kept, as was the case with the controversy surrounding the American University of Malta.
“A university that was to bring 5,000 students, and an investment in the education sector, turned out to be an agreement by someone who had no experience in the running of schools.
“Imagine choosing a school for your children. We all try to choose what is best for our children but our government decided to bring over a building contractor to run a university,” the PN leader said, reiterating calls for the Żonqor land which was to be used by the AUM to be handed back to the public.
The government, he said, has no respect for the country’s education system. While at the end of last year there were claims that teachers were being given the best deal in years through a new collective agreement, this was clearly not the case.
“This is not something that we’re saying but it is something the teachers themselves are saying because they cannot take it anymore.
“I’m concerned about this because we’re talking about our children’s education and the country’s future.”
On the deal with Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH), Dr Delia said that the deal was “planned to fail” and structured in a way so that when it failed, money was made by a select few.
On comments by the Health Minister Chris Fearne that he would be supplying the Opposition with the contract once this is completed, Dr Delia said it was not clear whether the minister was referring to the first contract between the government and VGH or the new one between Vitals and Steward Healthcare, who will be taking over the Maltese hospitals from VGH..
He added that he could not understand how Mr Fearne could promise to hand over the contract between VGH and the new operator when the government had repeatedly insisted that the deal was a business-to-business one.
The government, he went on, had also opted to pay VGH a million euro for the emergency helicopter service between Malta and Gozo that was previously run by the AFM, adding that a fixed amount was being paid irrespective of how much the service was used.