Malta will have more of the same as neither of the two contestants vying for the Labour Party leadership is willing to change direction, Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said on Saturday.

Adrian Delia was speaking in a telephone interview on the Nationalist Party’s radio station, during which he gave his evaluation of the Xarabank debate between Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne and MP Robert Abela, one of whom will be elected PL leader on Saturday.

Having a choice between two contestants, one of whom is Joseph Muscat’s deputy and the otyher legal advisor, is tantamount to saying nothing will change, Delia said.  

During the leadership campaign, neither of the contestants expressed his intention to investigate corruption and stop the downslide of Malta’s reputation.

“Abela is pledging to retain the same cabinet, while Fearne has no idea on how to handle issues on the rule of law and the separation of powers,” Delia said.

He also criticised the two contestants saying they lacked long-term vision on infrastructure, population growth, poverty and the environment. Delia said that their only concern was to ensure the Labour Party would remain in government at all costs.

Delia said that 2020 should be the year when the country should start "healing" from the tumultuous events of recent months.  

People should no longer turn a blind eye or adopt a lenient attitude when faced by wrongdoing, he said.

Asked about the state of the ongoing PN reform piloted by party stalwart Louis Galea, he insisted that this process had to be completed as soon as possible.

“The renewal must take place fast, as we are obliged to give the country a better PN to present itself as an alternative government. We must seek justice where we failed before and in a manner which would ensure that the country is governed in the correct manner,” Delia said.

Moreover, the party should not shy away from apologising for past mistakes, make radical internal changes if necessary and engage more with those harbouring different views, he added.

Delia said that statutory changes must be accompanied by changes in attitude from the very top down to the grassroots.

“If we do this, 2020 could be the year of new politics so to that the country would never go back to the events experienced last year,” he said.