Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Robert Abela is unable to take decisions and is “led by others.”
Speaking in Parliament, Grech referred to Abela’s claim that there was not a single case of bad governance under his leadership. “In the past two years, Robert Abela has not had a case of governance, let alone good governance.”
“We have a Prime Minister who for two years has been trying to bring us back to his predecessor and is trying to be better than his predecessor,” Grech said.
He said the PM cannot use the institutions to attack his predecessor, “when we know that democracy is based on autonomous, independent and strong institutions that can work without fear.”
He also referred to the recent attack made by PL Whip Glenn Bedingfield as he lashed out at the courts and the police over the search of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s home.
Grech said it was unfair to attack these institutions. On the contrary, both the Nationalist Party and the government should support them so that they can do their job without fear, independently and according to the constitution. He strongly insisted that all institutions should be left to work freely.
He described the government as a “clique that brought about nine years of corruption and two years of confusion.” Under nine years of a Labour government, Malta has continuously faced scandal after scandal, most of which involve reckless spending and waste of people’s money, Grech continued.
“The government’s definition of sustainable is ‘create, spend, then figure out how one can pay off the debt later. The government’s definition of sustainable is the waste and squandering of people’s money. They have not created a single new economic sector, except for the persons of trust,” Grech said.
He recalled how Deputy Minister Chris Fearne employed 27 people of trust and said that during the time that the PN was in government, there would have been at most around five people in such positions. This is in addition to the salary of €136,000 a year that Fearne’s Chief of Staff is receiving.
Grech spoke about how many people reach out to the Nationalist Party expressing their struggle as they are unable to cope with the cost of living in Malta.
“It is absurd to see how some people are living today whilst the government is wasting public funds.” He said the PN will continue to speak for those who are suffering and for those who cannot live peacefully.
Meanwhile, Grech also referred to the recent announcement that Air Malta will be shedding half its workforce. “What is happening today to Malta’s airline is the fault of the government’s incompetence,” Grech said.
In his concluding remarks, Grech said that the Nationalist Party will continue being a voice for the people, will continue pushing their ideas and will continue pushing for a change to ensue in this country.