Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today hit out at the Opposition leader for going into hiding in recent days, questioning what has become of “Mr Transparency.”

Addressing a political activity in Gzira, the Prime Minister said Dr Busuttil preaches transparency yet he met a whistleblower involved in the Gozo “works-for-votes” over a year ago and took no action.  

Different members of the PN leadership have given conflicting versions about when they got to know of the Gozo scandal he said, and Dr Busuttil has failed his own transparency test by not acting on the information.

“The Opposition leader is shying away from talking about this racket. He is not covering up for Giovanna Debono or Chris Said. He is covering up for himself,” the PM said.

Dr Busuttil cannot hide forever, and the Maltese population will ultimately hold him accountable for his silence, Dr Muscat said.

He said a number of priorities set out by Dr Busuttil when he reshuffled his shadow cabinet are actively being tackled by the government, such as fuel prices and the healthcare sector as well as improving transparency.

The government is committed to offering stable fuel prices, and on average Maltese consumers pay less than other European consumers do, he said.

On health, Dr  Muscat said that while the situation is far from perfect, the government has been proactive in tackling the problem of out-of-stock medicines, and has recently attracted a €200 investment in the sector through the Barts medical school.

He said Karin Grech Hospital in its current state is not fit to host people and will be upgraded.

The Metropolis project in Gzira will see an investment of €120 million and the creation of 400 new jobs, he said.

The Libyan investors behind the project were ready to pull the plug on the investment a few years ago, yet the Labour government convinced the investors to stick with Malta. 

On the local council election, Dr Muscat said Labour voters who choose to abstain in the upcoming election will be doing Dr Busuttil a favour.