There are people who wish to change history, Opposition Leader, Bernard Grech, said on NET FM Radio on Thursday, the last day of the campaign before the 8 June elections.

Grech said that the collective memory of this country must be maintained since some people are trying to make the past be forgotten, rewriting history, and making people keep their mouths shut.

He referred to the assassination of his cousin, Karin Grech, which he said most people think it occurred under PN governance but, in reality, the PN rose to power 10 years later.

With regards to Wednesday’s debate with Prime Minister Robert Abela, Grech said that it is a ‘debate’ as a manner of speaking.

After pointing out that he wasn’t on ‘home-turf’ due to issues the PBS and the Broadcasting Authority had with the PN, he said that Robert Abela is “so weak” and afraid of the truth that he is scared that someone with directly confront him with facts.

Grech said that is through facts that the PN is moving forward and achieved what it has, for example the return of hospitals to the public. He said, “Nothing beats facts. We don’t need to waste energy in maintaining lies”, as the Prime Minister does.

Grech said that Abela spent all of Wednesday’s debate scaremongering the people against the PN since it is their “last weapon”. He said that Abela has grown so desperate that he has lost all decency and resorted to “petty” attacks, “like school children”, against him, with reference to a comment in which Grech said he was Greek. He said that this is why mature politicians are needed.

Grech said that he insists that the PN is not only made up of himself but, rather, is a team that “involves everyone and feels a part of”. He added that this is the reason he went to many localities. He said that though he may not have visited every locality, the PN's work certainly reached every locality and reiterated that the PN doesn’t ‘work on a desk’, in an ivory tower, but instead “smells and tastes” what the people experience, their reality.

Grech said that despite promises of meritocracy and transparent governance, government under Labour actually gave us a country where “omerta (code of silence) reigns”. He said that this is what Abela tried to do to the Attorney General, Police Commissioner and the magistrates amongst others, before pointing out that only the magistrates didn’t stand for it.

Furthermore, on the matter of omerta, Grech said he was sometimes approached by Labour supporters who would tell him that following a certain Facebook post, they would receive messages on their mobile warning them to be careful what they say. “We have gone back to the 80s”, he said and went on to point out the scenes in front of courts in support of those accused of defrauding the hospitals.

Grech said that local councils with a Labour majority do what they are told by government, and this had resulted in multiple resignations and complaints such as that of the Mayor of Pembroke. On the other hand, he said that PN local councils only are the “true shields for the people in localities” and added that even a local council with PN in minority will make a difference. 

Grech said said that Labour government still does not like the EU, following their initial stance opposing Malta’s full membership and scare tactics. However, he pointed out how Roberta Metsola was chosen first, in the first place, by the Maltese to be an MEP, but then by the other European countries. He added that Metsola was voted in by parties including the socialist party, the party the Malta Labour Party supports on a European level.

Grech concluded by making it clear to voters not to “experiment” with independent votes since “it may be lost” and stressed to start and finish with PN candidates.