For the 32 concrete proposals put forward by the Government regarding the Malta Labour Migration Policy, the Nationalist Party replied with only a few generic comments which did not include any concrete proposals on how it would change things, the Labour Party said Tuesday. This is in addition to the Nationalist Party document quoting figures incorrectly.
Had it not taken a month and a half for the Leader of the Nationalist Party to reply to an email from people working on Vision 2050, he would have known that the Malta Labour Migration Policy is incorporated into this vision, the PL said.
Also, the Nationalist Party brochure in the most amateurish way, confuses turnover numbers, and instead quotes the figures as if they were an increase of foreign workers in the country. This is not true. In reply to Parliamentary question number 25116, it was clearly explained that the total number of residences permits, of foreigners, in 2024, which includes those coming from the European Union and those from outside it, has stabilised.
This is because there were about 33,000 new permits, just over 28,000 permits that were not renewed. Thus, when considering the difference between those who are part of residence programmes and the numbers of TCN's workers in 2024, there is negligible difference between those who came and those who left. The table shown in the PN document confused everything and made an error of more than 30,000 people, the PL said. The PN cannot talk about the economic model because it has no credibility on this matter.
When commenting on the Malta Labour Migration Policy, the Nationalist Party was careful not to pronounce itself in the document and chose not to commit itself.
Not only does the Nationalist Party say that there are more foreign workers than necessary, but it then asks the government to say in which sectors there is a 'surplus or saturated', the PL said.
Despite years of ambiguity by the Nationalist Party about redundant workers and added value sectors, the Leader of the Opposition and his two spokespersons, have failed once again to mention one sector in which they will not allow more foreign workers.
The PN wants to lead this area through conferences. Those who adopt this type of populist policy cannot be credible. Who is incapable of interpreting simple statistics, cannot be trusted with government, the PL said.
The PN wants to use foreign workers to stifle populism but then opposes important changes such as the increase in the fees of new workers, as clearly stated by the opposition spokesperson on more than one occasion.
The Labour Government remains the only political force offering solutions on this matter, the PL said.
It added that the Nationalist Party brochure is not only characterised by cheap political commentary -it is also characterized by a populist narrative that tries to blame foreign workers for everything they think is not right in the country.
During a press conference held later on Tuesday, PL President Alex Sciberras, alongside PL CEO Leonid McKay, said that the Nationalist Party's document presented as part of the consultation process concerning the labour migration policy in actuality "does not provide a single proposal".
He said that this document, in the same way that resulted from the "phantom budget" of the PN, "does not offer any vision". He added that the PN's only call is to take the country back to stagnant pensions, unemployment, high water and electricity bills, as well as deficits and austerity.
Sciberras commented that despite the PN's criticism, at no point in its document did it identify sectors where there were excess workers. "This is a party which presents itself as an alternative government, but when the hour comes for them to make decisions and offer their visions and thoughts, it falls short of doing so and does not have the courage to say in which direction it would intervene if it were in government," the PL President stated.