Malta’s economy is only stronger because of the rapid growth in population, Opposition leader Adrian Delia insisted this morning.
Addressing delegates during the Nationalist Party’s general council held at the party headquarters, Dr Delia iterated the claim that the government “did not have a plan” and that it was only interested in attracting “big business”.
“Instead of the middle class doing better, as promised by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, this government is only looking out for the ‘big business’ and so only the ‘big guys’ are favoured. Direct orders for the select few now run into the millions.
“All the while, the government continues to import slavery with workers brought here to live in containers and live off €400,” Dr Delia said.
The PN leader also insisted that the party would always seek to protect life from conception, unlike the Labour Party who he said was onboard with the European socialists’ pro-choice stance.
“The European socialists believe that there should be choice over life and the Labour Party agreed. The PN thinks differently. We will never change our view on this and we will continue to protect life from conception,” Dr Delia said.
On Malta’s reputation abroad, Dr Delia said that the government was tarnishing it and was only interest in “secret contracts” that benefit the few.
“The MoneyVal report says that we are at risk of getting blacklisted and that the serious investors who are truly interested in investment will start avoiding us.
The Venice Commission also flagged serious concerns. Here, again, the government says that it agrees with the conclusions but then it goes ahead and appoints new members to the judiciary anyway.
“We have an arrogant government that does not care about anything,” the PN leader went on.
On the party’s vision ahead of the May elections for both the European Parliament and local councils, Dr Delia said that the PN did not want to practice politics of hate but that of hope.
The party, he said, believed in the energy sector and the positive impact this can have on the country if managed properly.
“We believe that the energy sector is an opportunity. We are currently at the bottom of the energy targets list. We haven’t even reached our own targets.
“We believe that we can be ambitious and that Malta really can be the best in Europe. We are blessed with resources – sun, wind, waves. We can show Europe that even in a sector corrupted by this government, we can bring about change,” he said.
On environment and transport, Dr Delia accused the government of taking the people for a ride, again claiming that the Labour government did not have a plan.
Unlike the Labour Party, the PN would ensure that the people’s quality of life is improved and that its politicians were putting themselves out there to serve and not to destroy, he said.
Meanwhile, speaking ahead of the PN leader, the lead candidate for the European People's Party (EPP) Manfred Weber said that party embodied what it meant to be party of the European Union. The EPP, he said, had fundamental convictions that it believed in and that were all about “the European way of life”.
“We see the challenges but we have a proper answer. You can trust in the EPP. We have a good idea of the fundamental principles and we are not a populist party,” he said.
Acknowledging that the bloc faced certain challenges, Mr Weber said that the EU is not about small countries or big countries, or those coming from the north or the south, but about values based on freedom.