It has now been over a week since senior Labour Party figures accused Minister Owen Bonnici of reckless spending under the pretext of the Film Festival, and to this day the Government has not denied what Neville Gafà and Jason Micallef have said, the Nationalist Party said Thursday.

The Government stated that this year's edition of the festival cost €5 million. Gafà claims it's worse than that-insisting that, in order to keep their inner circle happy with yachts, oysters, drinks and more, Owen Bonnici and Robert Abela blew over eight million more from Malta's coffers, the PN said. "In Neville Gafà's words: 'Min hu mejjet għal qatra u min hu mejjet fis-sakra' (while some are dying for a drop, others are dead drunk)."

Jason Micallef, Labour's special delegate responsible for implementing the electoral manifesto, also lashed out at this waste of public funds, stating that "with €5 million in public funds, one can organise 20 spectacular shows in Valletta on New Year's Eve, and two consecutive Isle of MTVs at the Granaries," the PN said. "Just imagine what could be done with more than €14 million."

During a press conference, Shadow Minister for National Heritage, Arts and Culture Julie Zahra and Shadow Minister for Finance Graham Bencini said that this is a Government of continuity. "In fact, Owen Bonnici is simply continuing what Clayton Bartolo started-lavish, limitless spending to impress a handful of VIPs at the Film Festival, all while the Minister shows no sign of a real strategy to grow the industry, and while local artists are left out in the cold, scrambling for crumbs the Minister chooses to hand out once he's taken care of his favourites."

"In our country, where there is so much talent, Maltese actors, directors and producers are denied a level playing field, and the funds that should support them are being squandered on nonsense."

"This is not the first time Robert Abela's Government has found itself embroiled in controversy surrounding this festival. The Auditor General has already confirmed the Government's lack of accountability in this sector in the past: unpublished contracts, missing bank statements, and no proof of the supposed economic benefits brought about by this excessive public spending," the PN said.

"The so-called Government of transparency, when asked to provide accountability - both in Parliament and at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) - suddenly goes silent."

"Robert Abela and Owen Bonnici seem to forget that every cent they spend belongs to the worker, and that they must account for it to those who earned that money," the party said.

"The millions that Abela and his clique find for their own enjoyment and pleasure are nowhere to be found for the elderly who are ending up buying medicine out-of-pocket due to shortages, or for those begging for specialised treatments for medical conditions. They were not found to open the health hub in the North that was first announced and then declared no longer a priority. They were not found to reopen the closed health centres and police stations. They were not found to build a new mental health hospital or to invest seriously in a new school each year, as past Nationalist Governments did. They were not found for our educators, left pleading for years. They were not found to open new homes for our elderly. They were not found to fix collapsing systems such as sewage and electricity."

"Nor are they found for serious investment in our country's industries, including the film industry."

The PN is demanding the immediate publication of all accounts and a full breakdown of every cent Abela and his colleagues spent during these few days of the festival.

"If they want the public to believe this was an 'investment,' they should immediately contradict what their own people - Neville Gafà and Jason Micallef - have said, by publishing evidence of what was spent and how it was spent," the PN said.

The PN said that, while in Government, it laid the foundation for the film industry. "It did so because it strongly believed in the industry, in local artists, and in Malta's ability to attract major global investment. There was no need to 'buy' investment, and no need to splurge in order to impress anyone. When investment is made seriously, there's no need for gimmicks to impress."

"Now that the red carpet has been rolled up, the guests have gone home, and the Minister has taken off his tuxedo, it's time for him to sit at his desk and do the accounts-and present them to the Maltese people. That is, of course, unless he has something to hide," the PN concluded.