Speaking in front of a group of people in Zejtun’s main square yesterday, Azzjoni Nazzjonali leader Josie Muscat addressed his party’s concerns regarding the EU, the shipyards and the family. “No one bats an eyelid in this country when citizens or political parties criticise the government of the day. Nobody accuses them of trying to break up the hegemony of the State. Well, the real State is now in Brussels. So why is it that when anybody dares criticise Brussels, sections of the press immediately come out with the accusation that this means leaving the EU?” said Dr Muscat.

“We are in the EU and we have to accept this as a state of fact. But does that mean that everything that comes out of Brussels has to be accepted? Especially if it is accompanied by money the government is desperate not to lose, as has been amply shown where the Sant’Antnin recycling plant was concerned? Did we need to see the withheld report to know that what was driving the government’s agenda was the money that the financially-strapped administration so badly needed that it was prepared to go to any lengths to obtain it?” he said.

“Brussels tells us we cannot shoot birds, while they sell arms which are used to kill people. Most of the PN’s proposals stem from European legislation. We have to reduce carbon emissions, we have to remove the tax on those travelling abroad, we have to show that our education system is producing better results. These are EU initiatives and they are good. But a country the size of a small European city will soon have to fight every rule and regulation passed in Brussels because it simply does not apply to a country with a miniscule market,” added Dr Muscat.

“Take the shipyards for a start. The EU has given us ample time to get it back on its feet. It hasn’t happened. So will the end of this year see 1,800 families begging for their bread and butter or else doing work which is an insult to their dignity?” continued Dr Muscat.

AN believes that the family is in need of defence, “yet there are those who want to create a society tolerant to all sorts of excess, which include the killing of an aborted child or the casual splitting up of a family through divorce but not, of course, the terrible crime of shooting of a bird. Many young people prefer not to work today because taxes eat away most of what they earn. It’s easier to live on benefits. And with no future on the horizon, do you wonder that they are turning more and more to drugs, and to early sexual adventures? If the government wants to bring down the price of houses, all it has to do is stop taxing property to death. Do you realise that this tiny country of ours is the most taxed member of the EU?” said Dr Muscat.

AN pledges to give back to the citizen the voice that has been severely curtailed and what it would like most is to be able to bring about a coalition of the best and cleanest politicians we have because they believe that the problems this country is facing cannot be solved by a country at war with itself.