The government's fiscal surplus is not benefiting all the people, but all the people would suffer from the harm caused to Malta's reputation by the government, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at Balzan PN club in an activity forming part of the PN General Council, which is meeting all this week. 

Dr Delia referred to reports about irregularities in the granting of tenders and direct orders at St Vincent de Paule Home and Mt Carmel Hospital and said such goings on were indicative of a finance minister who had lost control of his own ministry.

Investment, he said, was harmed when potential investors saw that the law was not applied equally to everyone.

The PN leader hit out at Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi for avoiding the independent press, and said that the minister also needed to explain how his own lawyer had been awarded a €200,000 direct order. 

The Opposition leader criticised the government over the way it had sold state hospitals and referred to the 17 Black inquiry, saying it was not clear about whom the inquiry was being made. 

Despite the situation, he said, the government was continuing to ignore warnings by European institutions and authorities and it was systematically allowing corruption to take place, thus undermining Malta's reputation.