Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil today questioned how the wife of former Minister Manuel Mallia, Codruta Mallia, was granted Maltese citizenship only after two years of marriage, as opposed to the required five.

Making reference to the story revealed by The Malta Independent on Sunday, Dr Busuttil said this is a blatant abuse of power, and called on the government to take action. 

 “How come his wife skipped others on the waiting list? Is it because she is the wife of the Minister who was responsible for citizenship? This is blatant abuse, and I urge the Prime Minister to take action imminently,” Dr Busuttil said.

Addressing party activists at Santa Lucija, Dr Busuttil argued that the Labour Party made promises to people of the south, only to forget about them once the election was over.

The PN leader said that it is unacceptable that the Dr Muscat lies about the economy he inherited when he was elected Prime Minister, when in fact it inherited a stable and strong economy.

“People can see through the government’s artificiality”

Dr Busuttil reiterated that the PL has failed to live up to its promise of building a new power station in the first two years of its legislature. Dr Busuttil added that the PN had initiated the energy interconnector project, which was inaugurated by Dr Muscat a month ago.

“People can see through this artificiality and lies of the government,” he said. “What projects has this government launched, which were not initiated by the PN? The PN was the party that planned ahead for the next generations,” he said.

Tomorrow, the new parliament will be officially inaugurated, and members of parliament are to hold their first sitting at 6pm. “Let us remember that it was Lawrence Gonzi who had this vision for Valletta. The Labour Party strongly criticised him for it, but ironically, tomorrow they will be the ones to officially open it,” Dr Busuttil said.  

He also mentioned the oncology centre, a project initiated by the PN and continued by the present government.

 “There is no line between the Labour Party and the state. It is a complete mess,” the Opposition Leader stressed.

He said that Minister Konrad Mizzi’s wife does not only earn €13,000 a month, but it was recently revealed that she was also appointed Malta’s general consul in Shanghai and has an office valued at €2 million.

“The people of the south are questioning whether their vote was used to distribute wealth only among those close to the Labour Party,” he said.

He added that most jobs created are being taken up by foreigners, because wages are unreasonably low. “Is this indeed a party of the workers?” Dr Busuttil questioned.

Making reference to the development of the American University set to be built in the south of Malta, the PN leader said that this should not be developed at the cost of the environment.

He noted that last week, the party put forward a groundbreaking bill concerning public domain property.

If the bill is enacted, this will lead to the government imposing restrictions upon itself for the first time when it comes to selling or transferring its property, the government being the largest land owner.

On Friday 8 May, Simon Busuttil will celebrate the second anniversary from when he was given the responsibility to lead the PN.  He noted that in the last general election, the PN only managed to elect only four candidates across the second, third, fourth and fifth district. Two weeks ago, the results of the local council elections clearly indicated that the PN is making substantial advancement in the south localities – including Birzebbuga, Paola, Santa Lucija, Marsa and Hal Kirkop.

He said that the local council results have served as a lesson for the party that the south is ready to trust the PN if it stays close to the people. “It is all about people. We have to be the people’s party. If we focus on that, than the PN will be capable of regaining the electorate’s trust,” he said.

Dr Busuttil noted that the party has managed to narrow the gap by half, however, he said, the party must now be focused on the second half of the road.

“The PN promises to remain close to the people, today, tomorrow and in the future,” Dr Busuttil concluded.