The PN on Monday said that government, in a moment of panic before the upcoming elections, has offended those who served in the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM).

PN MPs Darren Carabott and Ivan Castillo issued a statement which drew attention to letters being issued by the Home Affairs Ministry, offering a one-sum “final” €3,000 payment to some 700-AFM personnel who had filed complaints over injustices they claimed they had suffered in the past.

The Malta Independent on Sunday was informed that around 300 of the recipients have refused the offer, and are prepared to take the matter further. The €3,000 ex-gratia payment was offered to AFM personnel who had filed a complaint over alleged grievances committed before 2013 with the Commission for Injustices of the Armed Forces of Malta, which had been appointed in 2017.

The PN said that government has offered this compensation for a number of personnel to withdraw their complaints before the AFM Complaints Board, which is the Commission for Injustices.

“This decision, during an election campaign, serves nothing but to offend those who have served for years in our Armed Forces by telling them that the Commission has concluded its report and offering them the option to sign a declaration attached to this letter and accept €3,000 or appeal within ten days,” the PN said.

It continued that worse still, no reasons were given for those whose complaints were rejected, violating the basic right to justice. The PN said that since 2013, government has attempted this “vicious cycle” of decisions three times, which ends up creating confusion, uncertainties, and even new injustices, leading to the start of another cycle

The PN said that this process has revealed the mask of the Labour Government, which instead of having the genuine intention to solve these complaints, has created a process designed to fail and play with the emotions of those who served our country.

“The Nationalist Party reminds that the Labour Government of 2013 had promised to solve these injustices once and for all by focusing on each individual case. But now, 11 years later and on the eve of an election, it becomes clear that for them, this was merely a political exercise,” it said.

The PN said that after that supposedly rigorous exercise, government ended up simply issuing a letter on the eve of an election without any explanation or detailed individual reports, and above all, has offended these people who served the AFM, by offering them compensation to withdraw their complaints.

It referred to a decision by the Ombudsman, who found that from 2013 onwards, a number of people in the Armed Forces suffered injustices under the Labour Government.

“To this day, the Labour Government has taken no measures to provide remedy and repair the damage done to the families of the soldiers of the Armed Forces who were victims,” the PN said.

It said that years after the Ombudsman’s decision, government chose to ignore and shelve this decision instead of addressing it.

This is also aside from the fact that those who suffered injustice in the last 11 years under the Labour Government were not given any opportunity to be provided with a remedy, the PN said.

“A new Nationalist Government will provide clear remedies for all those who suffered injustice under the Labour Government, regardless of how much time has passed on the case,” it said, appealing to AFM personnel that regardless of what they sign with the PL government, a new PN government will ensure justice to every person involved and pay them what they are due.