The Labour Party has stated that PN MP Chris Said's proposal pitching for an elected executive council of Gozitans is evidence that the Nationalist Party (PN) wishes to dismantle the Ministry for Gozo.

Speaking to Times of Malta, the former Minister and Nadur native shared that Gozo's regional status should be enshrined by the Maltese constitution to allow for the region to have a bigger say in its own governance.

Said proposed that while retaining the Ministry and its respective minister, Gozo should have its own council with executive powers that can function as the principal decision-maker of the sister island. Said clarified that this idea to transfer some power over Gozo to Gozitans stems from his own personal stance.

In an official statement reacting to this proposal, the Labour Party (PL) said that the Gozitan PN MP has exposed his party's hand - that if elected to power, the PN would like to omit Gozo from having its own ministry, despite Said saying this was his personal opinion.

"Chris Said's PN proposal creates chaos and confusion," the Labour Party stated.

The PL chastised this idea, arguing that it would add more bureaucracy, undermine the Cabinet, the Gozo Minister, and the existence of the council of Gozitan mayors, as well as eliminate 40 years of progress made through the Ministry for Gozo, all to the detriment of Gozitans.

While describing that Said wants to remove the Cabinet from having a voice over the sister island, the PL said that through this proposal, the Minister of Gozo would retain his title, though "in reality, he would have no power whatsoever."

"For more than 40 years, Minister after Minister for Gozo, beyond his or her political affiliations, served Gozo and the Gozitans in the best possible way and carried out reforms and investments in Gozo that gave a strong boost to the Gozitan island. Now, Chris Said and the PN want to undo all of this," the PL said.

The Labour Party continued that this proposal, which it said was published as part of PN's electoral manifesto in 2022 as proposal 311, has already been rejected entirely by Gozitans.

Additionally, it described that its implementation would remove the most important areas for Gozitan families and businesses - such as infrastructure projects, tourism, and certain healthcare services - from the hands of the island's designated Ministry.

The Labour Party ended its statement by stating that the Nationalist Party wants to deprive Gozitans of having their own Ministry.