According to opposition leader Bernard Grech on Thursday, President George Vella's choice to allow his substitute, Frank Bezzina, to sign the IVF reform into law rendered the parliament impotent.
The opposition leader was making reference to Vella's hesitation to sign the bill that provides for pre-implantation genetic testing on embryos for inheritable disorders after it was approved by parliament.
On July 6, the bill was adopted by Parliament, but it wasn't until this week that it was finally signed into law by the acting president while Vella was away in Birmingham.
Vella had previously stated to the press that "the bill will be signed" but declined to say if he would personally assent to the law, calling Labour's legalization of embryo freezing "a complete travesty of morality" in the past.
"The Constitution says that the president is there to sign the laws passed by parliament. Through his actions, the President rendered parliament ineffective, at least for a short time," Grech stated during an interview with journalist Dione Borg on the party's radio station, NET FM.
Although the PN first had reservations regarding embryo genetic testing, it ultimately decided to support the measure. Carm Mifsud Bonnici, who was absent due to illness, specifically stated that he would have voted against, but MPs Adrian Delia, Alex Borg, and Ivan Bartolo broke with the party and voted against.
During the same interview, Grech claimed that the government spent millions on road projects without fully realizing their potential advantages because of poor planning.
"We have completed various road projects, through which traffic flows easily but congestions are being caused elsewhere. This means that the road widening was ineffective on its own," he said.
He added that the government should encourage people to stop driving by establishing safe lanes for bikes and electric bikes and other forms of alternate transportation.
"We need cross-party decisions on traffic and transport. We have to agree on a long-term plan of 10-30 years that keeps the government of the day on track and in check", said Grech.
Speaking about inflation and Prime Minister Abela's reaction, Grech said that Malta's inflation is the lowest in the EU, accusing the Prime Minister of being insensitive to regular people.
When energy and gasoline, which are substantially subsidized by the government, are taken out of the equation, the inflation rate in Malta is higher than the average for the EU, according to the leader of the Nationalist Party.
"Food inflation is high and this is hurting people, especially the elderly... the Prime Minister is satisfied that Malta's inflation is lowest in the EU but he does so possibly because inflation does not impact him," Grech said.