Opposition leader Adrian Delia on Sunday accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of creating a new “poverty class” instead of the much vaunted new middle class that he used to speak about.
Those in poverty or at risk of poverty were growing, he said.
He lamented the lack of planning that was characteristic of this government and said he had made it his mission to bring the PN back to the people after it had distanced itself from them over the years.
Dr Delia said the party would be there to help people bearing the brunt of the government’s decisions.
The PN had an open door policy and did not discriminate between nationalists and labourites, he said.
Dr Delia said children were being taught in containers, the Marsascala police station was in a container and workers were sleeping in containers.
“Is this the best of times, with children, the police and workers all in containers? Was this Joseph Muscat’s vision”, Dr Delia questioned.
Turning to Gozo, Dr Delia said the island would remain a priority for the PN.
He said the government had completely forgotten Gozo and was now trying to make amends by building a tunnel.
Dr Delia said a regional council for Gozo should be set up to given Gozitans more say over issues affecting the island.
He also announced that Gozitan MP David Stellini will be contesting the MEP elections.
On declarations by HSBC that the financial sector was suffering reputational damage, Dr Delia said the matter worrying for all.
“You have a global bank with global impact saying its losses were due to reputation damage. We should all be concerned about this”.
Dr Delia slammed the Finance Minister for failing to say what steps would be taken to reverse this damage.
He also accused the government of treating farming as a dying trade and said the sector was being slowly killed by the government.
Dr Delia vowed that the PN would defend farmers and seek ways to help them, including by tapping EU funds.
The Opposition leader warned that there was only a short window of opportunity to save this sector.