The Nationalist Party’s general council meeting at the weekend was described by the Labour Party as a “pathetic exercise by an outdated party”.

In a statement, the MLP said that the PN secretary-general had said that the council was meant to have been different, but it only exposed the weaknesses of the party in government.

It was a “pathetic” meeting full of praise for the party leader and senseless attacks against the Labour Party. “It was the general council of a party in government that is trying to hold on to power when it knows that a change in the country’s administration is close,” the MLP said.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi did not say a word about the tourism crisis the country was facing, and failed to address “shortcomings in accountability” on the part of some ministers. He did not refer to the accusations made by former PN president Frank Portelli about the Mater Dei Hospital, to the “audio-tapes scandal” involving Minister Censu Galea, the spending of Lm191 million more than originally estimated for certain capital projects and other scandals that have rocked the PN, the MLP statement said.

It was no wonder that accountability, transparency and efficiency were not on the PN’s agenda, the MLP said.