Bernard Grech has said that the fact that Prime Minister Robert Abela refused a call for a parliamentary discussion about Edward Scicluna’s position as Central Bank government is evidence that the climate of impunity persists under the Labour government, which he said instead insists on picking on the alleged misdemeanours of youths.

Grech was asked for an update on the situation regarding his appeal to the Speaker, Anglu Farrugia, to urgently open parliament in order to debate the issue of Edward Scicluna keeping his position and the Governor of the Central Bank. Grech said that, to begin with, this was done due to the government saying that the position of governor is independent from it. He added that had it not been for the pressure put on Prime Minister, Robert Abela, by the PN and people of good will, Scicluna would have stayed on as governor.  

Grech said that they know “the measure” of Abela: in fact when Chris Fearne posted his resignation, Abela answered that he wishes him to remain as minister and intends to nominate him as an EU commissioner. On the other hand, when it came to Scicluna Abela initially didn’t say a word, he said.

Grech said when Scicluna refused to resign with Abela remaining “indifferent” he called parliament with everyone’s interest in mind and the hope that government and the opposition could work together to remove Scicluna from his position. That said, his request was refused because Abela is afraid of discussion, he said. 

Grech said that following the pressure from the PN, Abela said he would lead alone and will discuss the matter in cabinet in the coming week. He pointed out that this is already a week too late, following Scicluna’s indictment last week and added that Abela was constrained from removing Scicluna from the MFSA.

Grech said that the climate of impunity under Labour government is still present and is proven by Scicluna who thinks he can do what he wants. On the other hand, he pointed out that three youths working in IT who exposed a flaw in a popular platform, since it is their job, ended up being investigated and were even stopped from receiving a prize. Since these are youths, they will be investigated, but those in the clique of Robert Abela can do whatever they want, he said.

Grech said that Malta has a weak government and a weak prime minister who says that there are many decisions to be done, however it is only talk. He said the reality is that the country lacks planning or has bad planning in every sector.

Grech said that the government said Malta would not have any more power cuts, but along with summer so came the outages. He pointed out that Labour used to criticise the PN for the power station which they called a “cancer factory” but now diesel generators are in use on people’s doorsteps making noise, polluting the air and even spilling diesel into the streets.

Grech went out to point out how Abela is lying to the people; in saying that the problem wasn’t with the production of energy and yet generators were deployed, the power drain from the shore-to ship project which was revealed by an official to be barely in use, the problem of drainage into the sea which Abela denied despite photos and videos proving the fact. He said that though Abela lies, he gets caught.

Grech honed in on Abela’s comment on the upsurge of electric vehicles contributing to the power outages and said that not only is there much investment in electric vehicles, but should they wish to solve the problem of electric vehicles, he questioned if they will do so by tying the stakeholders’ hands. He added that on Monday, he will be meeting with the MCESD in the PN quarters of Parliament to find out the true struggles caused by the power cuts.

Grech concluded by saying that the government lacks a plan in every sector and works through management by crisis, or a “government of knee jerk reaction” going further to say that it also lacks moral fibre, pointing out the Jean Paul Sofia inquiry and the government’s initial opposition to it.

He said that however, the PN has a long-term plan that will take the country forward. He sketched out what PN government would do within its first 100 days in power: call a national conference on population growth, which Abela had refused back in 2020, tackle the rising cost of living, set the environment as a fundamental right within the constitution, propose a set of 12 laws based on the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry and return the €400 million taken from the Maltese people.