The Opposition Leader failed the responsibility test on the issue of national security, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said this evening.

Speaking during adjournment time this evening, Mr Abela said security had been heightened following the Paris attacks. This was a delicate issue and one had to be very cautious when speaking about the subject, the Minister said.

“The Prime Minister told the people that he was ready to cancel CHOGM if any threat surfaced and that the country would remain vigilant. In the end there was no risk. The government was responsible in the way it acted. I am sorry that, in the moment of truth, the Opposition Leader failed the responsibility test, not because he had no right to speak on security but because of the way he spoke on the subject.”

Mr Abela said Dr Busuttil was a member of the National Security Committee, where he was privy to all information and had the chance to ask questions. While Dr Busuttil had a right to speak on the subject he was also responsible for what he said. “The Opposition was not responsible in the way it spoke on the subject of security, particularly following the Paris attacks. Their aim was to sow the seeds of doubt and fear.” He said one simply had to look at the PN newspapers to see that this was the case. Instead of putting peoples’ minds at rest, the PN media was scaremongering and raising doubts about the government’s efforts to keep the country safe. It now seemed that Dr Busuttil was changing his tone.

The PN Leader, he said, had also tried to raise doubts after the government uncovered a visa racket while Schengen rules were suspended. “I can understand those who raise legitimate concerns but this does not apply to the Opposition Leader, who did nothing to stop such reports from being published by the PN media.”

The Minister said the extension of the Schengen suspension until the end of the year was not related to any threat. The government, he said, would rather trust the Maltese intelligence services and their intelligence partners rather than some newspaper report.

Referring to a report published by The Malta Independent, Mr Abela said he had acted immediately after receiving reports that soldiers had not been fed well during CHOGM. “The quality and amount was satisfactory in all places, bar for a single location, and the problem there was rectified in a matter of hours. It was not true that soldiers had been left without food.”

Mr Abela again thanked all members of the Armed Forces of Malta and the Police Force for their sterling work. He also thanked the British for their support, even if it was not needed, since security on the ground and in the air was taken care of by the Maltese forces.