Former Labour leader Alfred Sant this morning said that it should “not be business as usual” for new leader Robert Abela.

Writing on Facebook, Sant, who was Labour leader between 1992 and 2008, said that after taking over the reins of the party, one now expects Robert Abela to give his imprint to the administration he will be leading.

“The sense of continuity must be there but it should not be business as usual,” he wrote.

Sant had been vocal in his criticism of the way his successor, Joseph Muscat, dealt with the fallout of the Panama Papers scandal, after it was revealed that Minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri had opened companies in Panama.

In his message this morning, Sant said there is a need for strong guidelines on good governance and environment, a strong hint that the now Labour MEP feels that the Muscat administration failed in.

The business sector should be kept happy but no sector or parts of it should be allowed to do everything they liked, he said, in yet another jab at the Muscat administration, which was seen to be too cosy with the construction industry to the detriment of the environment.