The Prime Minister's silence makes him an accomplice in Labour Whip Glenn Bedingfield’s outburst in Parliament on Tuesday, the Nationalist Party said today.
PL Whip Bedingfield lashed out at the courts and the police over the search of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s home. He also took aim at other institutions.
The Burmarrad home of Muscat was searched by the police as part of investigations into the deal transferring three public hospitals to the private sector.
During a press conference on Wednesday, PN MP Karol Aquilina said that Bedingfield’s speech was “irresponsible and unacceptable.”
Following Bedingfield’s adjournment speech, the Nationalist Party issued a statement calling on Prime Minister Robert Abela to take immediate action, saying that if he does not do so, he would simply be complicit in this attack.
“More than 12 hours have passed, and the Prime Minister has done absolutely nothing,” Aquilina said.
He added said that what Bedingfield did was nothing more than intentional pressure to try and prevent the institutions from doing their job.
“The speeches made by Prime Minister Abela and Glenn Bedingfield show that the government does not truly believe in the institutions of our country, and they’re only interested in ensuring that the institutions solely work against people who are harming the government and its members. This kind of attitude will also mean that the government is not working on getting Malta off the FATF grey list,” he said.
Aquilina referred to Abela’s appeal to businesses, where he urged them to complain directly to him if they feel “terrorised” by regulatory enforcement action.
“This goes to show that the Prime Minister is choosing to intervene in the work of institutions, instead of allowing them to work independently and in an impartial manner,” Aquilina said.
“Robert Abela continuously chooses to defend Joseph Muscat and all the abuses that have taken place under his leadership, instead of defending the interests of this country.
Today we have a Prime Minister who is a hostage of his predecessor,” Aquilina said.
For his part, PN MP Robert Cutajar said that the government’s actions, including Bedingfield’s speech, is one of many.
“In a normal country, these kinds of speeches by Members of Parliament should not happen as they are not acceptable,” Cutajar said.
“Are we a normal country when someone makes a speech like that in the highest institution of our country?”, he asked.
Cutajar expressed his concern for Malta, saying that this is a worrying situation because the government is showing that they are not letting the institutions work.
“The Nationalist Party unreservedly condemns the speech given in Parliament. The government could not be bothered with the reputation of this country and as a result, one cannot be rest assured that Malta is being led by a government who prioritises the interests of this country,” Cutajar said.