ADPD - The Green Party has criticised the 2027 Budget, saying it offers immediate relief while failing to address the country's long-term problems, shifting today's challenges onto future generations, who will inherit national debt exceeding €13 billion.
During a press conference in Valletta on Saturday, party representatives accused the government of prioritising electoral votes over human dignity and pandering to the more egoistic and racist elements among its supporters. They described its approach as an attempt to paper over the cracks, leaving chronic problems unresolved while blaming others for the consequences.
ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci said the government's concept of social justice depended on whether people had a vote. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, she argued, was keeping the economic wheel turning by targeting vulnerable people and squeezing more out of the foreign workers who help sustain the economy.
Gauci said third-country nationals were treated as disposable economic tools rather than equals, despite being particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Less than 2% earn what is considered the national average wage, while many also face high rents and poor working conditions.
She described the growing hostility towards these workers as overtly racist, adding that the government's family-friendly policies were also placing additional pressure on vulnerable families who need childcare. Meanwhile, employers' abuses were being overlooked as long as the economy continued to function.
Gauci said Caruana was now struggling to manage an economic model he had himself introduced without adequate long-term planning or control. She also pointed out that third-country nationals earning decent wages contribute through taxation, helping finance pensions, contradicting recent remarks by Prime Minister Robert Abela which suggested they make no contribution.
Party spokesperson Mario Mallia said the Budget exploited vulnerable people while distracting attention from decisions undermining economic sustainability and social wellbeing.
He argued that the government was squeezing people without voting rights to finance irresponsible electoral promises, including a super bonus benefiting millionaires rather than those most in need.
Mallia also criticised the lack of meaningful measures to address traffic, saying the proposed tax on foreign workers' driving licences unfairly singled them out instead of addressing successive governments' failure to tackle the problem.
He further condemned what he described as government ministers' performative approach towards migrants, including taking people to court for sleeping outdoors because they could not afford accommodation.
Mallia warned that such rhetoric was fragmenting society and demonising particular groups. Referring to the murder of Lassana Cisse and the attempted murder of two others because of their skin colour, he said these crimes should serve as a warning about the consequences of divisive politics.
"The rhetoric of hate kills," he said.