Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech has described Prime Minister Robert Abela's acceptance of Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo's apology over an ethics breach as a "a betrayal of meritocracy, and an insult to all those who work hard every day."

During his closing speech at the PN's General Council, Grech referenced the abuse of power which the Standards Commissioner had found and condemned the Prime Minister for accepting Minister Bartolo's apology on the matter.

Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri were found by the Standards Commissioner to have abused their power when Bartolo's then-girlfriend Amanda Muscat was given a job she had no qualifications for, and did not do. The tourism and Gozo ministers respectively were found to have failed to administer public funds diligently, Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi said in a report which was published by the parliamentary ethics committee. Azzopardi found that Amanda Muscat, now Bartolo's wife, was first promoted from being Bartolo's personal assistance to his consultant with an increased salary of almost €62,000 and, later, this was upped to €68,000 when she moved to Camilleri's ministry in 2021. The 40-page report showed that Muscat did not have the necessary qualifications for the job and did not do consultancy work. By and large she continued to work as Bartolo's private secretary, with a consultant's salary, even when she was employed with Camilleri.

On Friday, Bartolo wrote some remarks on social media and apologised for this matter. Later that day, Prime Minister Robert Abela accepted Bartolo's public apology, labelling it as "sufficient."

Referencing this, the Opposition leader on Sunday morning called out Prime Minister Abela during his speech, stating that "it is not acceptable that two of your Ministers conspire to provide a €70,000 annual salary to one of their wives, simply because she was a friend who became his partner."

Grech said that this near €70,000 annual salary is triple the average wage of a teacher in Malta, nearly quadruple the annual salary of a learning support educator (LSE), double what a local nurse earns, and "four to five times more than what the average worker earns."

"They gave this to a Minister's wife simply because she was his partner, even though she didn't show up for work and wasn't qualified," he said, "This is not business as usual."

"The country's funds are not there to benefit them or [for them to] take care of each other because they became friends with benefits," Grech said.

Following this, he remarked that, since no resignations have come after over two days since the Standards Commissioner's report was published, the Prime Minister is now complicit for not forcing the ministers' removal himself.

"If you think sorry is enough, I assure you that this is not the case for the Maltese and Gozitan people," Grech added.

The Nationalist Party leader went on to state that if an average citizen breaks the law, they must face the consequences. One of the everyday examples he cited to illustrate this was how a person who earns a fine and is imposed penalty points for excessive speeding cannot simply apologise for their actions and be given a slap on the wrist when facing a Commissioner for Justice.

"The rules must be there for everyone," Grech declared.

Grech then asserted that Minister Bartolo did not apologise for this matter because he is remorseful, "but because they've been caught - that's why they're sorry."

He then questioned how the government can face the country's challenges with this attitude, stating that "the people deserve better" and deserve a government that works around the clock to address all their issues. Here, to prove his point, he cited the Vitals-Steward deal and how Abela's government "failed to defend us from those who frauded us."

Referring to the General Council's theme, "A Youthful Malta," Grech said that the Nationalist Party is present to transform the country and update the country's economic model, which he said "is unsustainable and is giving us great problems."

He described that he views the country "like a youth full of energy, fulfilling its dreams, that sometimes gets lost in its own feet" before adding that he hopes Malta can improve and that he is determined to see the islands thrive.

He recounted how the Nationalist Party was responsible for helping the Maltese achieve independence 60 years ago and for achieving European Union membership 20 years ago, and that the party is ready to strengthen the country. He said that this must be strategically addressed by working to improve everyone's quality of life and that "this cannot just be a slogan."

Grech outlined that "in 11 years of power, this government has given us many problems," such as sewage being dumped into local seas and bays, traffic "everywhere," the struggling healthcare system, flooding roads "every time it rains," and an "unsustainable economic model that is based on quantity, rather than what is right."

Going over PN's vision, he narrated that the Maltese islands must build on new opportunities through artificial intelligence (AI), health, science, etc., "so that our children have a reason to stay in their country and be motivated to design a Malta that is a nice, mature, modern, innovative place that can be described as home by them and their children."

Amongst these plans, he said that a PN administration under his watch would make health a priority "once again."

"Apart from new and modern hospitals, we are going to invest in up-to-date medical equipment and in our workers and professionals for them to provide you with the best care and service, as you deserve," Grech said.

The PN leader continued that it is also vital for the educational system to be updated in a manner that "isn't failing our children" - as he implied the present one is. He said that if the PN wins the next general election, a Nationalist government will transform the education system into one that looks beyond the needs of today and aims towards "our children's futures." He also said that the education system should support all youths so that they may progress in the rapidly evolving world.

Moving from one system to another, Grech called for the transport system to be "urgently improved."

"We can no longer ignore the need to have a serious national plan that offers a sustainable transport system that promotes the daily mobility of Maltese," he said.

Grech explained that the Maltese and Gozitan people are suffering and wasting precious time in congested traffic. He added that this is affecting people's physical health, through the inhalation of car fumes, as well as having mental health strains, affecting businesses and families.

"We will be seeing to it that our transport system is improved quickly, safely, with minimal impact on the environment," he declared.

He also called for the Maltese islands to work to have sustainable tourism that does not strain local infrastructure, for Malta to continue harnessing clean energy, and for people to be safeguarded from the effects of inflation.

Concluding his discourse, he called for people to connect with the Nationalist Party to "build a Malta that looks into the future with courage and determination."