Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech on Saturday drew parallels with the 1980s, saying that the Labour government of today is threatening democracy by attacking Parliament, the courts and journalists.

Speaking in Xaghra, Grech said that history is repeating itself as today’s government wants to break the democratic pillars of the country. In the 1980s,the PL government fought the courts, doctors and schools.

The 1980s, a time when the Labour government led the country in spite of winning fewer votes in the 1981 election, is remembered as a dark period of Malta’s history.

The Labour Party today is attacking the law courts in the same way it did four decades ago, he said, a direct reference to how Prime Minister Robert Abela has been hitting out at a magistrate who concluded an inquiry into the hospitals deal which has led to charges brought against former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and three former ministers.

Abela is now implying that the courts and some media organisations are part of what he describes as an establishment that is working against the government.

The PN must continue to be strong and defend democracy in the same way that was done in the 1980s, Grech said.

The Labour Party is also threatening violence in the streets, he said, referring to how PL supporters are being urged to be in Valletta when Muscat is arraigned.