I would go before the PANA committee to clean Malta’s name

PN Leader Simon Busuttil has called on the Prime Minister to appear before the PANA Committee and not destroy the country’s reputation, going as far to say that he would appear before the European Parliament himself, should he get elected. “Malta is for everyone, and not just yourself,” Dr Busuttil said directly to Dr Muscat.

Dr Busuttil told an audience in Zejtun that the country was now in a situation where the PM and his Chief of Staff are under separate magisterial inquiries.

“There is so much corruption in the government that they need more than one magistrate to investigate.”

During the activity, Dr Busuttil referred to the five proposals the PN presented earlier in the day which centred around employment: equal work for equal pay, halting a General Workers’ Union programme, a return-to-work programme and a national plan for gender equality.

“A journalist asked me earlier if this meant I was more of a socialist than Joseph Muscat. I made it clear that this party is without distinction. Every Nationalist, Labourite, Gozitan and Maltese is welcome to this Forza Nazzjonali. We are all one family. I would not say I am a socialist, but I have a social conscience and I am proud of it.”

He reiterated that this is an election about principles rather than proposals. He maintained that much like the PN’s time in opposition, the party has offered numerous proposals since the start of the campaign, including the increase in children’s allowance, free childcare, maternity leave, paternity leave, and school transport.

Dr Busuttil lambasted Education Minister Evarist Bartolo for criticising the PN’s proposal to make childcare free to everyone. “When we have money, it does not go to some canvasser.”

On maternity and paternity leave, the PN Leader ensured that the government would handle the subsidies of the initiative. With regards to school transport, which will see the service available to all children, he said that he found ironic that when the PN proposed the initiative three years ago, the current government had ridiculed it. “We managed to convince the government once again. It is only on the question of corruption they are yet to be convinced.”