Opposition Leader Bernard Grech took aim at the government and Labour Party on Sunday, saying that the PL has abandoned the workers.

"Robert Abela's government is no longer the workers' government," he said.

"Imagine how [ex-Labour Prime Minister Dom] Mintoff would have reacted to the betrayal of these workers had he still been around."

"Today commemorates the 20th anniversary of former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami's signing of the Athens treaty, which enabled Malta to join the European Union," Grech said on Sunday. "This decision was the fruit of a political party with a vision," Grech remarked, "and 20 years down the line, the PN is still proud to hold these European values which bring many benefits to the people of Malta and Gozo."

"It's also been 50 years since Air Malta's operations started, and what is the current government's track record? It failed Air Malta," Grech said.

"Look at how the government handles the closure of Air Malta; at the same as the news breaks that Air Malta is going to close down, we see adverts recruiting people," he said in reference to news articles indicating the airline will likely close.

"The government knew about this closure and yet chose to keep workers in the dark about this state of affairs. The government is laughing at workers," Grech said,

"Even disgraced former-Minister for Energy and Health Konrad Mizzi said that Air Malta was a profitable business. Look at how the government laughs at the workers, as well as everyone in the country," said Grech.

"The government ruined it because they didn't have a plan moving forward, they lost their way and are not governing in the best interests of the people."

"And this is all occurring because Abela is deaf," said Grech.

Grech’s comments about the airline come after the Shift News reported that it is reliably informed that the plan to dissolve the national airline and start afresh with a leaner and more commerciallyviable airline is now in full motion, quoting sources in the article. The Times of Malta reported that the European Commission will forbid the government from pumping almost €300 million into Air Malta to save the airline, and that the airline will likely be shut down and replaced by a new one, also quoting sources. It says that Finance Minister Clyde Caruana would not comment, but that he reiterated that negotiations with the EU Commission are still ongoing.

The leader of the PN then took issue with the Prime Minister's letter which he wrote earlier this week to the Chief Justice over the "totally unacceptable" delays to the finalization of the magisterial inquiry looking into Jean Paul Sofia's death in a construction collapse last year.

"Allegedly, Abela wanted to hasten the course of justice and really did have good intentions, but the letter was just a gimmick to display his strength since he knows that the Chief Justice won't respond to him in public," Grech said. 

"Today everyone, from all parties, is convinced that Abela is hiding something because he doesn't want to call for a public inquiry. He's deaf, scared, and compromised," Grech said.

Grech also spoke of Repubblika President Robert Aquilina's newly launched book 'Pilatus: A Laundromat Bank in Europe' which alleges that there was a "cover-up".

"What's the government's response to Aquilina's book? Nothing. I expected the government to tell the Police commissioner and the Attorney General to resign in order to demonstrate political accountability, but no such thing occurred," said Grech.

"The book alleges, after a court order to bring people to justice, that the government decided not to bring them to justice, and only after making such a call do they try to justify this reasoning post-hoc."

"Abela attacks the messenger as he did to Mark Camilleri [when he published chats demonstrating links between politicians and businessmen] and Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses President Paul Pace," said Grech.

"The government is also trying to do the same thing with these 4 students who were recently arrested after exposing an app's security flaw. The students did the right thing," said Grech, "but the police emerged in full force, showing that the state uses two measures when applying justice."

"Abela has lost all sense of direction, perspective, and balance. He only has one sense left, and that is to protect the bad, rather than the good," said Grech.

Grech said: "Abela, you have no solutions, no vision, you have only words, and millions of euros of the Maltese taxpayer funds that you're profligate with."

"That's why we're going to be celebrating the worker on the 1st of May, by holding a protest."

The Nationalist Party will be holding a protest on 1 May to support the workers who "have been swindled by the current government," Grech said in an interview on party media earlier this week.

"We will be protesting against the fact that Robert Abela's government abandoned the workers. This government, moreso than that of Joseph Muscat although both are in the same boat, not only didn't work in the interest of workers, but actively swindled them," Grech said. 

"We have an economic plan that we brought out last year. We also have environmental, judicial, touristic, and educational plans too. The one thing we don't have is a plan in corruption," said Grech.

"Our plan is there for the worker, not for the strong man on top. This is your country and only by joining with the PN can Malta and Gozo can truly be yours, with solid European values. Our heart is with the worker," Grech concluded.