The Labour Party's economic plan and vision created chaos in the country and brought Malta to its knees, said Nationalist Party MP Ivan Castillo on Friday during a press conference alongside fellow MP Darren Carabott.

The MPs stated that the PN is presenting its recommendations concerning the labour migration policy later on Friday, as they remarked that the consultation period for the policy ends on Saturday.

Castillo said that the PN’s document made a particular emphasis on the country’s economic model.  “What is a migration policy worth today if you don’t have an economic plan or direction for where you want this country to go,” Castillo questioned.

He said that a migration policy has to be the motor for where the economic vision wants to take the country – an economic vision which the country, under the Labour government, currently lacks.

A lack of vision means that the country will “stagnate” and remain in the same place.  He added that the PL’s economic policy had “brought the country to its knees.”

Carabott commented that there is an important question being addressed in the PN's document, as "one of the greatest worries" that people have in the current day is because of the policy adopted by the government throughout the last twelve years, "mass importation without any plan, structure, study, or strategy about how our country's economy can move forward".

He remarked that such a situation is to the detriment both to Maltese workers and businesses, as well as the people coming to the country. He continued that this is the difference between the present government and a nationalist government, as he commented that the labour government publishes its labour migration policy as a "political exercise" after the results of the latest elections in the country. Carabott remarked that the government "decided to take the opportunity and say that it is doing something," but he said that this is not how it should be, "not half-baked measures".

The MPs said that the PN and the social partners have long told and requested the government to take action on proposals that need to be adopted.

"This policy is not even mentioned or included in the Vision 2050 that the government is enacting, and this shows how this is a government reactive to what is happening in the moment rather than having a vision," Carabott said regarding the labour migration policy.

He continued that the difference between a nationalist government and a labour government is that the PN believes the issue of labour migration cannot be undertaken by itself. "It has to be latched along with the economic model, and this is where the government is falling short." He said that the government still has not declared that it made a mistake with the present economic model nor that it will change it. He questioned what new economic sectors will be established as well as what direction the country is going in.

Carabott commented that the PN has stated that it will establish a new economic model which gives importance to subject of immigration, "while the government is simply reactive and uses these types of subjects as a political exercise".

"The Maltese people unfortunately during these last twelve years has been suffering from the repercussions brought on by the economic model used by the labour government, where year after year, the government has imported workers not based on the needs of the country."

Carabott said that the PN believes that there needs to be a study and analysis on the direction Malta is headed so that it can be determined what skills and talents are needed for new sectors and economic models, as he commented that it may also be the case that the Maltese population already has such skills.

"Ultimately, if there is no direction, we will end up with what the government is doing right now, which is the mass importing with no plan and all the consequences that come with it such as a struggling infrastructure, traffic, overpopulation, the disaster in the health services, the lack of public services. These are all issues which the government has brought with its hands, while social partners and the PN kept saying that action needed to be taken."

The MPs concluded that one cannot have a government which says it is going to introduce a policy on immigration without having a holistic vision.