Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil this morning gave a list of the top 10 major scandals in which the government was involved in the past year, saying that the police’s inaction on any of them has meant that the PN has lost all confidence in the police force.

Starting off with the Gaffarena saga and finishing with the Evarist Bartolo inaction on alleged irregularities involving a canvasser – with so much in between, including the mother of all scandals, the Panama Papers revelations on Minister Konrad Mizzi and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri – 2016 has turned out to be a year in which the Prime Minister became a “shelter for corruption”, Dr Busuttil said.

Speaking in Sliema, Dr Busuttil said that conversely, 2016 was a positive year for the Nationalist Party as it sought to establish itself as an alternative government.

Dr Busuttil opened his address by saying that, in his message for 2016, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had pledged to fight corruption, but facts turned out to be completely different than his words. “We have become used to hearing the Prime Minister say one thing and do the opposite,” he said.

In January, the auditor general had published a report highlighting the misdeeds in the Gaffarena scandal – with the government selling part of a property in Valletta for €3 million. At the time, it was thought that the government could not have been involved in anything worse, but the Gaffarena case, on which the police took no action, turned out to be “peanuts” when compared to what was to come later.

A month later, in February, the government announced the appointment of two magistrates who did not have the required qualifications for the post. One withdrew, and the other, the daughter of a former Labour Party deputy leader (Anglu Farrugia) was appointed after these requirements were later fulfilled.

The government opened the year by appointing the daughter of a former Labour deputy leader as a magistrate, and ended the year by appointing another former deputy leader, Toni Abela, as a judge. This raises questions on the judiciary’s operations, Dr Busuttil said. “Tomorrow (Monday) I have a case against Toni Abela in court. Can justice be made in my regard?” he said.

The mother of all scandals erupted in March with the Panama Papers, on which the police again failed to take steps while the PM chose to keep the minister and chief of staff next to him at Castille.

This was followed by the privatisation of three hospitals, for which the country will be paying €55 million each year for 30 years, and the gas tanker for the new power station, which will mean that the country will be buying energy at double the price for what it is already paying for via the interconnector, Dr Busuttil said.

Dr Busuttil also mentioned the appointment of Alfred Mifsud as deputy governor of the Central Bank of Malta, at the height of a scandal on which, once again, no police action was taken; the medical visas issue, with a government employee directly involved, and the master plan for Paceville, which he said should be scrapped.

The PN leader said the government had taken 600 people off the unemployment registry to pass them on to the General Workers Union, which is employing them at the minimum wage while pocketing a commission amounting to more than €1 million per year. “These workers are treated like slaves,” he said, earning €300 less per month when compared to others employed in similar jobs.

Some of these workers are employed at the Dar tal-Providenza, and Dr Busuttil praised the Archbishop for deciding to fork out the difference so that these employees get the same pay as others. “So the Church has to pay up while the GWU pockets the commission,” Dr Busuttil said.

The latest scandal involves Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, who has been caught giving different dates as to when he was informed about what his canvasser was doing in his job for the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools.

Once again, the police have taken no action on this matter, Dr Busuttil said. If you want a serious police corps and to see basic decency return in the way politicians run the country, then the Nationalist Party is your choice, he said.

Dr Busuttil concluded his speech by saying that the PN will be holding a fund-raising activity on Tuesday. “This will not be money for the PN, but an investment in democracy and clean politics,” he said.

PL reaction

In reaction, the Labour Party said that the opposition leader started the year on a negative note and will end it the same.

"This was a positive year for the Maltese people, especially for pensioners, persons with disability and low income earners".

The PL argued that Dr Busuttil chose to attack all the institutions that went against what he says.  "He believes in tribal politics".