Leader of the Nationalist Party Bernard Grech criticised the government's actions throughout 2025 during a political activity on Sunday.

He said that a month and a half into the new year, virtually all that the government has come up with is "a law that deprives you of your rights."

While continuing his reference to the ongoing magisterial inquiry reform, Grech said that "this is all the government has come up with so far this year - a law to allow them to protect themselves, rather than a law to help the people. That is the difference between the two main parties."

He continued that the government has remained steadfast "to keep controlling the institutions and protect criminals."

"Instead of protecting the people, it wants to stay on the side of the corrupt," he said.

Criticizing the Prime Minister, Grech noted that "when [PM Abela] saw that the Courts were investigating cases against the government, he began attacking the Courts" and that now, this has developed into him coming up with a law aiming to restrict citizen access to the Courts altogether.

Grech said that it is vital for citizens to retain the ability to request magisterial inquiries. As an example, he argued that this legal avenue was important in the Vitals decision to annul the fraudulent hospitals deal.

PN leader Bernard Grech has said that under his leadership, the Nationalist Party will be committed to fighting the effects of the increasing cost of living if it is elected to power.

After stating that the PN has the solutions to this, Grech advocated that this is only possible if people vote for the Nationalist Party in the next election.

"Every vote that doesn't go to the PN, is a person playing with the future and with the solutions we have prepared for you," the Opposition leader said on Sunday.

Grech implied that only the Nationalist Party has the solutions to the economic issue at hand and said that the cost-of-living is affecting everyone on the Maltese islands, including people earning substantial wages, not just groups of people who are likely to be struggling financially, such as pensioners.

"If and when we win this fight, not only Nationalists will benefit from our leadership, but even Labour Party supporters - even people who do not vote at all," he said.

PN MP Ivan Castillo also spoke during this political activity. The Shadow Minister said that the Labour Party only thinks about itself, while the Nationalist Party has the people and their needs in its heart. As such, he told supporters that the PN's proposals do not leave any persons behind, as they account for all different members of society.

"This government is not truly feeling the people's struggle. It is not recognising the 35,000 who are struggling to heat their households, nor the 3,000 homeless, nor the one in five people living in poverty," Castillo said, "Who can understand this? The Prime Minister who enjoys sailing his boat to Sicily? Ministers who pass on consultancies worth €70,000 to their family members? The Nationalist Party does."

Castillo observed that businesses should be receiving tax credits as even businesses are facing these economic ramifications. He argued that at the present moment, businesses - including family businesses - are being forced to raise their prices to cope with increasing operational costs, thus forcing consumers to foot the bill. In instances where this doesn't occur, businesses are choosing to absorb these costs instead.

The PN MP described that for several reasons, including those he mentioned, businesses require government assistance. During this activity, it was said that the Nationalist Party put this proposal forward to the government in the past, however, this proposal was rejected.

On this note, Bernard Grech said that "next time you see a product going up in price, remember that it is the result of the government's inaction and decision-making. When the government is throwing away these solutions, it is ignoring the solutions provided by us and social partners."

Commenting on a PN proposal for creating a national fund to aid importers and exporters, the PN leader described how importers and exporters have been facing logistical price increases, and therefore, his party wants to "help local exporters to more easily send their products to other EU Member States to help them grow."

"These initiatives means less expenses for small businesses, and more money in peoples pockets. This also means less expenses for importers and exporters, meaning they can generate more wealth," he said.

Grech concluded that the Nationalist Party holds all the solutions, and that even though the Labour Party's supermajority has disappeared, it still remains ahead in surveys and the rest "depends on you."