PN Leader Bernard Grech said that a culture of integrity is needed to fight against corruption.
"With a culture of integrity, we can manage to overcome the corrupt and dishonest cliques who strive only for the good of the privileged few, who then not only steal the opportunities of others, but create an unbalanced environment against the honest people who are expected to struggle and compete with gods and rogue circles that have the protection of politicians," he said.
Grech also stressed the importance of finding a new equilibrium for the power relationship between the entities of the state and the people.
"Unfortunately, today this equilibrium is not felt because it is not there," he said.
He assures that the party will continue to work and put pressure on the government and fight against injustice.
Grech spoke to a crowd on the eve of the 58th anniversary of Independence day, at the Independence monument in Floriana.
The theme of this year's event focused on the "quality of life that we deserve."
During Grech's speech, he spoke about the cost of living, poor wages, environment, security and the rapidly increasing population.
He also spoke about poverty and how Malta needs to have a concrete policy that addresses poverty from its roots. He emphasised that this needs to be done to stop the increase of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion every year.
"Innovative work is needed to strengthen social mobility. Our country must invest in much more social mobility, so that we begin the path towards fighting poverty in our country," Grech said.
Grech emphasised that he does not want to allow the high cost of living to continue to have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable people in our society.
"The government needs to forget excuses and focus on the facts, because the problem is affecting everyone," he said.
He said that everyone deserves a good quality of life, and that quality of life depends on the opportunities people are given and a healthy environment.
"The creation and protection of open spaces in our towns and cities, and the conservation of the untouched corners of the Maltese countryside should be the main priority for our country," he added.
Grech also made reference to the European Commission in the European Ecological Pact, and how Malta should share the same goals. He highlighted the importance of preventing human activity from negatively impacting our environment. He expressed the need to have a government which ensures that everything that people do will translate into great achievements for the country.
He further addressed the urgency to reach the 2030 and 2050 ambitious targets set by the European Commission.
"We want to promote more efficient use of water, a reduction in single-use plastic, investments in energy-efficient devices, and a focus on electric hybrid vehicles," he said.
Grech further said that he wants to focus on young people and invest in their education further. He said that education cannot only remain academic, but its purpose should be to see children and young people grow into active and complete citizens.
He said that although the government talks about ensuring that young people have a bright future, the truth is that it is still impossible to find a place to live.
When talking about the importance of safety and security in Malta, he said that the PN believes that if there is a solid investment in law enforcement, then this will improve the fight against crime and it will result in more peace of mind amongst citizens.
Grech also brought up that people should have the peace of mind that they are going to receive the best medical, physical, and mental care.
He said that the party continues to believe that the privatisation agreement with Steward Healthcare should be terminated, and in turn, the money that will be saved should be invested in a series of long-term projects that will improve health facilities.