The Labour Party is making a big mistake in thinking that many people will close their eyes to abuse committed by ministers for their own and their relatives' personal advantage just because the government delivered a good budget and because the PN is not ready to lead, Former Labour Party Minister Evarist Bartolo has said.

Bartolo did not make reference to any particular case, however recently Ministers 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.

In his post, Evarist Bartolo said: "Someone commented on what I wrote on Sunday about how the PN still has a long way to go before presenting solutions to the issues that different parts of the Maltese people feel: 'What you say is true, but although I'm an elder who voted Labour, I am not ready to let these thieves continue. Better a PN without a plan than these who rob me.'"

How many people are quietly angry, like this elderly Labourite who doesn't speak openly but will make his voice heard with his vote when the election comes, Evarist Bartolo asked.

"The worst is when those who do wrong think that wrongdoing becomes so normal that it is no longer wrong, and that people no longer see it as wrong," he posted.

In his post on Sunday, the former PL Minister spoke about the Opposition. "For an opposition party to come into government, at least two things need to happen: 1) The ruling party loses its majority by distancing itself from a portion of those who previously voted for it because they no longer see it beneficial for them to continue supporting it; 2) The opposition party gains the majority by persuading the largest portion of voters that with it in government, they will live better than under the current administration."

The PN has a serious problem because it has never recovered over the last 20 years from the point when it alienated some of its former voters, he said. "In these last 20 years, it has never succeeded in persuading the majority of the electorate that they would live better under it than with the Labour Party in government."

"It's not enough for an opposition party to simply point out what the government is doing wrong or where things are not going well. People don't need the opposition to tell them whether the country is heading in the right direction; they judge this in their daily lives," he said.

"As of last year, nearly two-thirds of the population felt that the country was moving in the right direction, while this year, only a third still feels this way. What people want to hear from the opposition party is its ideas for improving things so that the people can live better and the country can progress in the right direction."

He also said that the PN itself is not convinced that its own economic vision document contains sufficient proposals to persuade the majority of people that with it in government, they will live better. "So much so that they haven't even released this document, which is 32 pages long, many of which are filled with criticism of the Labour Government. A document like this isn't enough if only seven party members write it."

"To transform a vision into a national action plan, it must be developed in full consultation with the country's social and economic forces, and with them, a complete national coalition must be found to work together to achieve the power without which you cannot implement what you agree upon. The PN's work is still lagging in this regard. So far, they have only a draft document where the PN lists a flood of problems and that the PN, like Noah in the Biblical story, will build an ark to save the people. The ark is not yet designed, let alone built and ready."

"What is certain is that in 20 years, the PN has not yet built its ark to save Malta. And in a political system with an election every five years, a party cannot take forever to build the ark. Especially when, in politics, one cannot build an ark once and for all but must sail while building it daily in constantly changing circumstances."