‘Once corrupt, always corrupt,’ Busuttil tells PM in first campaign rally
● PM had every chance to kick Mizzi, Schembri out ● ‘Joseph Muscat thinks that an election is a washing machine’
PN leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday that “once corrupt, Joseph Muscat will always be corrupt.”
Addressing a the crowd at a mass rally, the first in this election campaign, Dr Busuttil lashed out at the Prime Minister for not resigning and choosing to bring the whole government down with him by holding a snap election instead.
Dr Busuttil said that the Prime Minister is trying to blame the Opposition for causing the instability, “but when you look
at the international media, you don’t read that Simon Busuttil is causing instability. You read how a Prime Minister was forced to call a snap election after corruption allegations.” He said this gives him courage as he knows he is saying the truth.
“We have a moral and political crisis. Joseph Muscat is starting to believe his own lies, but rest assured that the public does not believe him.”
He said the problem is very clear – corruption. “Joseph Muscat thinks that an election is a washing machine. You put a dirty Labour Party in, hoping it will come out clean.”
Busuttil also said that Muscat was the first prime minister to announce a general election during a party mass meeting.
“Everyone is asking why Muscat called for an election a year earlier than predicted. How did a government with such a majority fail to complete its five years?” Because PM Muscat is in the middle of a criminal investigation, he said.
“But one should ask: what would happen if he wins an election while the inquiry finds him to have ties with the third company in Panama? Would he be willing to resign?”
He said the PN is not afraid to face an election.
“This is the first time we have had a prime minister who is in the middle of a criminal investigation. In other European countries, such politicians would resign.”
Dr Busuttil said that OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat are intrinsically related, because if one falls, the other has to follow. He said that there is undeniable proof surrounding the PM’s chief of staff, including the kickbacks taken from the IIP citizenship scheme.
“Behind these three insignificant companies (referring to Panama companies Tillgate, Hearnville and Egrant) there are the names of Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Michelle Muscat,” the PN leader said while referring to the Panama Papers scandal.
The crowd which gathered at the PN headquarters interrupted the leader’s speech with the chants of “għax għandna l-Simon magħna” while Busuttil thanked them for their presence. “I called upon you tonight because I knew you would come,” he added.
He said that the Prime Minister had every chance to kick Keith Schembri and Minister Konrad Mizzi out, but he had failed to do so. “Common sense tells you that he failed to act because he is an accomplice.”
Dr Busuttil said that the PN will fight this election with one simple call – “I choose Malta.”
Muscat did not promise meritocracy because he knows he cannot deliver Fenech Adami
“The Prime Minister’s announcement is proof that the clique in Castille are in panic mode, that caretaker Joseph Muscat is giving up, calling for a general election,” PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami said as the crowd booed at the mere mention of Muscat’s name.
Dr Fenech Adami said that the Prime Minister knows his days are numbered. “That is why he woke up this morning firing promises. But he did not promise meritocracy, as he already did so four years ago but has failed miserably.”
“He did not promise the end of corruption, because he knows he leads the most corrupt government in Maltese history.”
Dr Fenech Adami said that pensioners would not believe Joseph Muscat’s lies as they know that when the government had the chance, some opened companies in Panama in an attempt to get richer while the workers continued to struggle.
The public booed as he mentioned the Prime Minister’s promise relating to the repair of Maltese roads. “How can you make such a promise when you have failed to even finish the regional road project?”
“In a couple of days, you will be handed voting documents. We need to make sure that this process is free of any abuse. We cannot trust anyone. Let’s make sure no one steals this election.”
He urged the government to release the flight information for those Maltese living abroad as soon as possible so that those who have the right to vote will be able to do so. “We need an army of volunteers,” he added.