Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil condemned the Prime Minister’s reaction to the European Parliament vote today, saying it was “immature and stubborn” and was leading Malta to lose the respect it earned in Europe over the years.

Addressing the media, Dr Busuttil said that Dr Joseph Muscat had said that there was no indication that the scheme went against European law when deputy commissioner Viviane Reding had specifically indicated that it was so.

PN worked for years to establish respect for Malta. What we built over many years has collapsed under Joseph Muscat in less than a year, Dr Busuttil said. Dr Muscat was capable of uniting everyone against him; of the 22 MEPs who voted in his favour, for were Labour MEPs and others formed part of extremist groups.

The Prime Minister has isolated himself but what is worse is that he isolated Malta, and the rest of the country will suffer with him. “It is a government made up of amateurs, without ideas and not prepared to govern,” he said.

He appealed to the government to listen to what the EP vote said and withdraw the scheme. 

Dr Busuttil said that there will be negative repercussions if the government persists in its stand, and this could mean infringement proceedings against Malta. He thanked David Casa and Roberta Metsola who defended Malta’s interests.

In reply, the Labour Party said Dr Busuttil is instigating the European Union to take action against Malta.