Labour leader Joseph Muscat will not give in to the pressure mounted by the Nationalist Party for him to withdraw his candidacy for the general election following the way he tackled the drug incident at the Safi Labour Party club.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to the Island Sanctuary at Tas-Silg in Marsaxlokk yesteday, he reiterated that the matter could have been handled in a different way but he stopped short of saying how.
On Sunday, the PN insisted that Dr Muscat should shoulder his responsibility for having been aware over the Safi club incident – an illicit substance referred to as the white block by deputy leader Tonio Abela was on the premises – without informing the police. The PN said that Dr Abela was not asked to resign because Dr Muscat knew about the case too and, if Dr Abela resigned, so should Dr Muscat.
Dr Muscat said that Dr Abela had shouldered responsibility for the case, but pressed to say in what way, Dr Muscat didn't say how but reiterated that the way Dr Abela handled the case showed that he had carried responsibility already.
He added that he would remain campaigning in a positive way opposed to the PN who was still interested in leading a negative campaign.
When asked why Dr Abela still holds the position of deputy leader for party affairs after the case came to light, Dr Muscat said that Dr Abela kept his position in the same way Finance Minister Tonio Fenech kept his.
Dr Muscat said that the Prime Minister had been aware of the case but failed to report it as was obliged to do so as the minister responsible for the Police Force.
He said that he had nothing to add on the issue and “I said what I had to say already”, referring to the interview he gave to a Sunday newspaper which saw him admit to making a mistake in failing to report the drugs case at the PL Safi club in 2009 to the police.
When asked once again to clarify what he meant by Dr Abela having shouldered responsibility over the Safi case already, Dr Muscat steered away from controversy and told journalists that he was done with answering questions.
Prior to his visit to the dog sanctuary, Dr Muscat fielded a number of questions from schoolchildren alongside Alternattiva Demokratika’s Carmel Cocopardo and Environment Minister Mario de Marco during the second edition of the Young People’s Environmental Summit, ‘We care about our future’, held at Xrobb l-Ghagin Park and Sustainable Development Centre in Delimara.
Hosted by NatureTrust, the summit saw children from EkoSkola participating schools put forward a number of concerns and proposals related to the environment, including renewable energy, waste management, sustainable mobility, air quality monitoring, among other issues.
The summit is part of EkoSkola’s strategy to foster active citizenry at local and national levels.
One particular concern was the power station emissions which they claimed was polluting the sea as a result and the amount of junk mail used during election campaigns by politicians which was leading to thousands of trees being destroyed as a result.
They called on politicians to stop resorting to junk mail to convey their message or at least control it while adding that politicians should resort to other mediums instead.