Prime Minister Robert Abela has not yet spoken to Opposition Leader Alex Borg over who the next Chief Justice and Auditor General should be, the PN Leader told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti will turn 68 in February, and according to the constitution, Judges and Magistrates have to retire once reaching that age. Appointing his successor will require a two-thirds majority vote in Parliament.

"Until now, the Prime Minister has not yet spoken to me about this," Borg said when interviewed by this newspaper on Friday. He was asked if any discussions between the government and opposition have taken place over the next Chief Justice, or if the government has proposed any names.

"It is a very important subject. We cannot leave it until the very end," he said, stressing that it is a crucial role, "as justice is virtually the backbone of our country's democracy. We need to ensure that we strengthen this arm of our democracy, and we need to maintain and strengthen the independence of the judiciary." 

He spoke of the importance of finding an "impartial person, who has no political ties to either side, so the person would be able to do their work in the most impartial way possible."

Borg hopes that Prime Minister Abela will get in contact with him soon to discuss the appointment, but said that if Abela does not, then he would contact the Prime Minister. "At the end of the day it is also in my responsibility given that this requires a two-thirds majority and there is no anti-deadlock mechanism. Both the government and the Opposition need to agree on a person who will be suitable for this position, so that we can move forward and so that work can continue on eliminating backlog."

Borg also said that he has not yet been contacted regarding the Auditor General post. The Auditor General is appointed for a five-year term, and also needs a two-thirds majority vote in Parliament. Charles Deguara has served in the post for two consecutive terms, and his current term ends in March.

Borg said: "It is a shame as these issues should not be kept to the last minute. There needs to be a mature and serious bilateral discussion that bears fruit. We need to look at the nation's interest, and not the interest of one political side or another. We need to ensure that there are capable people who can hold this position and continue working so that the rule of law will continue being strengthened."

PN 'is capable' of winning the election, Borg says

Borg said he will do everything he can to win the election, when asked what his realistic expectations are. "We have nothing less than anyone else, and I believe the PN, with the structure and team it has, is capable of winning the election, and we will do everything we can to achieve that. If in football a team plays with a mindset that they would lose, but lose 1-0 instead of 3-0, that is not a good mentality. I want to go in with a winning mentality, that we are capable of winning the election."

Asked about the party's debt, Borg said that "the most positive thing from the accounts we published is that the assets are far greater than the party's debts."

Nationalist Party's secretary general Charles Bonello had told the press that the €32 million debt figure previously cited included the debt of the party's media wing. Borg said that his obligation in terms of publication of accounts are the party's' accounts. On a political level, that is their obligation, he said. "MediaLink, which is a private commercial company, has its obligations with the Malta Business Registry. There are different standards than with the party."

"The PN has started a plan on how to solve its financial problems." He said that his predecessors took many steps to see how to solve the party's financial problems, and that he will continue on what they did.

PN to solve NI payments 

The PN was recently criticised over unpaid tax and national insurance contributions. Asked about this, Borg said that every obligation regarding tax, VAT and National Insurance will be solved over the coming months. "I want to see to it that we will have no form of problem that could arise in future. I want to see to it that if there is any pending NI or taxes or VAT, we need to solve it."

Turning to criticism made by the PL that a party that cannot sort out its own funds cannot handle the country's finances, Borg said that the party has faced obstacles that it is slowly solving, "but I don't think that the government is in a suitable position to talk about the party's finances, as the government over the past years took the country into record national debt." He said that economic and financial government experts spoke out about the financial situation, because if the government continues with its spending then the government needs to also find the income to substantiate this spending.

"Yes, it is true we have not reached the 60% of GDP threshold," he said, "but government's own experts are expressing their concern about the amount being spent and the country's debt. Robert Abela, the Prime Minister, took the country into more debt than all the Prime Ministers did since independence."

"We also do not know what the One Productions debt is. Is it true that, from the information we have, that One Productions has over €20 million debt? That is a question the Labour Party CEO needs to answer." 

Turning to the PN's financial issues, he said the party has already made advances and the party will keep building on what it has done in recent months, "to continue showing that we are already prepared to be a government in waiting."

Mass transport system

Asked about possible talks on the metro project, Borg said that the government has not spoken to him yet. He believes that on a project of national importance that cannot be implemented in one legislature - whether it is "a metro, monorail, hybrid or whatever it will be, you would need at least 10-15 years" - there needs to be a sunset clause, he said. "I proposed that I am ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Prime Minister to commit ourselves to agreeing on a project, see what the experts are saying and what the best mode of mass transport system is ideal for Malta, and commit to go through with the project no matter who is in government."

He stressed the importance of sitting down together to see what would be the most feasible project and which would take the least time to implement.

He also said that aside from a long-term project, "we need to find short term measures as to how we can improve the situation. We surely will not solve the problem by, as Transport Minister Chris Bonnet told us, reducing 200 licences a year when in reality over 1,000 licences a year are issued. I don't believe youths, by telling them to give up their licences in return for money, will be encouraged to giving up their licence."

Generic medicines

The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life recently dropped an investigation into Opposition leader Alex Borg's comments on generic medicines, citing a significant omission in the Code of Ethics for Members of Parliament that does not explicitly require honesty. The investigation was requested in October by the Health Minister, who accused Borg of spreading "very serious misinformation" after the Opposition leader stated that a Nationalist government would ensure the availability of medicines that are "of good quality, not generics." The minister warned that such remarks could have far-reaching and harmful consequences for patients and public health.

Asked about his comment, whether he believes generic medicines are not of good quality and whether if elected he would start removing generic medicines and start paying for branded medicines, he holds that there was "Super One spin, trying to paint it as though I am not happy with generic medicines or the pharmaceutical sector in the country. But it was the PN in 2004 that did all it could with Malta's accession to the EU to truly have a strong pharmaceutical industry in Malta. Many pharmaceutical companies which operate in Malta manufacture generic medicines. That is why the PN had tapped this sector and I want to strengthen it." 

He said that the bioequivalence of generic medicines with originator drugs is often nearly equivalent. "But in reality, and this does not mean that they are inferior quality or bad, there are times when the generic medicines we have on the government formulary are not always able to leave the same effect on certain patient conditions." Here he mentioned neurological conditions like ADHD and Epilepsy. "There are even Ombudsman cases which show there were patients with ADHD on whom generic medicine did not work and left certain negative effects on them. If you speak to the ADHD patients I spoke to, they tell you that the generic medicine on the formulary does not agree with them, and so they need to purchase the originator drug for a higher price. If you speak to people with epilepsy, they also tell you that the medicine on the formulary does not agree with them and so they need to purchase the originator drug. If we speak about people with respiratory problems... ventolin is not provided for on the formulary. There is a generic brand that does not leave the same effect as ventolin. It does not mean it is bad, but it does not give the 100% effect. So we need to look at providing all necessary medicine, especially for neurological conditions that we know the medicine on the formulary is not working, to continue giving all we can to our patients."

He said that Parliamentary Secretary Malcolm Paul Agius Galea "also said that we always try to give the originator drug for certain conditions to patients to have the best quality medicine possible."

Turning to PrEP, he said that it is unacceptable that it was out of stock. "Malta has one of the highest rates of HIV in Europe," he said. "We need to ensure that PrEP is always in stock." He said that the PN proposed that PrEP be free.

Roderick Galdes

Regarding the PN's calls for the removal of Roderick Galdes, and if it plans to take any further action, Borg said that he will not deviate his attention from the PN's political work to offer an alternative government, "but we cannot allow things like this to undermine the good governance of the country. The Galdes situation emerged from a number of stories that raise serious doubts."

Borg made mention of the Standards Commissioner's statement over the Prime Minister's decision not to publish the ministerial declarations of assets. 

"Is this why the Prime Minister continues to defend Galdes, because he fears there is something that can embarrass the government? We cannot allow such things to continue without the people knowing the truth, without having transparency and accountability in the highest institution in the country."

Borg said that Galdes accumulated properties, including outside of Malta. "That is why doubts were raised, and why the people want clear responses, transparency and accountability. There are also two investigations into Galdes, and we need to see what their outcomes will be."

Asked if Borg would pledge to, if elected to govern, restart the publication of ministerial declarations of assets, he said he would. "I have no problem doing so. We want to show good governance. We want to show that we are there to represent the people and not personal interests."

The second part of the interview will be carried tomorrow