The subject of abortion should not be ridiculed but should rather be a subject of major discussion, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Monday.

Turning the European Parliament electoral campaign into a referendum on abortion, as the leader of the opposition was doing, was a sign of panic,  Dr Muscat said.

"We are ridiculing a very serious subject about which the Maltese deserve a sober discussion," he insisted.

“The government does not have a mandate to introduce abortion. The PN leader is being irresponsible, when, as a survival strategy, he makes declarations that will come back to haunt him.”

On Sunday, the PN leader claimed that the upcoming European Parliament elections would be a referendum on abortion since every seat going to the Labour Party would be a seat in favour of abortion.

Dr Muscat said Dr Delia had seen a panic button and pressed it.

"That is a short-term and short-sighted strategy by the Opposition leader,” he added. 

It was those who had no valid argument who ended up scaremongering.

“From my end I will continue campaigning on real issues – if anything, his comments confirm that the upcoming May 25 elections are a choice between myself on one side, and Dr Delia on the other.”

What does the future hold for Joseph Muscat?

Dr Muscat was evasive when asked about his future after he recently hinted that he will “not stop abruptly”.

Dr Muscat has repeatedly declared that he will not contest another general election, however, he has not said when he will step down and whether he will give up both the government and the party leadership.

He has also not ruled out seeking a top EU post.

Asked about his future and whether he had a cut-off date, Dr Muscat said at the moment he was only focusing on the May 25 elections.

I will especially continue to focus on May 25 when seeing all of the scaremongering going on, he added.

Pressed further, he said: “After May 25 there will be May 26,” he said.

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