The Government persisted with its mistakes as it kept defending Keith Schembri, even after allegations were made, Opposition and PN leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday.

This comes after court findings on Daphne Caruana Galizia's revelations, where Keith Schembri, along with other people, were charged with corruption and money laundering.

"This country is better than the people who are being accused. We have to understand why we are here. There were people who were not doing their job properly in government, and a government that was voting to defend these people. It was not only a mistake, but they persisted in their mistake. This is diabolical," Grech said.

The Opposition leader said that the same people who were in government while this happened should not be there to lead a change. "Today, it is easy for the government to say that it is doing all it can, but the same people who persisted in the mistake can never be the people to solve the problem. For our image to improve, you need to have a different team."

"The Opposition is here, giving ideas and it will continue doing so. I always said that these circumstances need to be dealt with in a mature and serious way. We can't think that with sugar-coated words we will help the country," he said. 

He turned to the Covid-19 situation.

Grech referred to the PN's proposals regarding more rigorous screening in ports. "We have been saying this for a long time; since December we insisted. People who were coming from Sicily were not being screened. This was being echoed by experts."

"The vaccination program needs to continue moving forward. We need to understand that all of us have a responsibility. My appeal is that we need to follow the Covid-19 measures, keep a distance, so that we can continue to fight against the virus," he said.

This morning, there was also an indication that Malta will pass the Moneyval test, he said. "That is what we want; I welcome this positive indication. But let us understand that various entities said that we shouldn't have ever been in this position in the first place. Damage has still been done," Grech remarked.

"But today, we have to see how we are going to move forward. We need to see where we are and where we need to go. We need to ensure a good generation of investment, not only through government only, but private companies as well. The Maltese employees need to have peace of mind," the opposition leader said.  

In terms of frontliners, he pointed out that the government needs to do more to help them as there are some who have been asking for improved working conditions.

"I found out that there are employers who took out loans in order to pay people's wages; I admire them," he said, while lashing out at the government for not sitting down with certain groups of frontliners over their working conditions.

"I am afraid that he thinks the frontliners are cheap. But for me, the frontliners are of immense value. We can't use laws to hinder them."

Grech also addressed the issue where Giovanna Debono's husband who was cleared of all charges against him. "Laws should not be used to throw mud at politicians for no reason - Giovanna Debono's husband was accused wrongly."