[WATCH] Delia: Labour attacking our values to turn Malta into ‘soulless state’

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia accused the Labour Party of wanting to attack Maltese values and to turn the country into a soulless state in his first mass meeting as party leader this evening.

Speaking at the Floriana granaries on the eve of Independence Day, Delia opened his address by recounting his experiences growing up under a Labour government, a time when he said people were not allowed to express their political opinion.

This was followed by him stating that September was the month in which the Maltese nation celebrated Victory Day – the day commemorating both the victory of the Great Siege in 1565 and the end of World War – which commemorated the Maltese nation persevering against “enemies who wanted to take away its identity”.

He insisted that the Nationalist Party – “a party made of Catholics and real Maltese” – had always been on the right side of history, unlike the Labour Party.

“In the next four years the government wants to attack, not the curia, not the bishop, but the values that make us truly Maltese,” he shouted, warning that under the current administration, the country was directionless.

Over the course of the relatively short leadership campaign, Delia said that despite the country doing well economically, he had learnt more than ever that the vulnerable were suffering. He said there were pensioners who were unable to make ends meet and youngsters that could not afford to rent out a home.

“Where is the surplus, in whose pocket is this wealth? In the pockets of the few or the many?” he asked.

He said that there was also a new type of poverty in Malta, a social poverty, adding that corruption did not only mean that institutions were not doing their job, but also that the people’s interests were not protected.

Turning to criminality, which he said was increasing in every party of Malta, Delia questioned what the government had done to address the situation. Likewise, he said Muscat's administration had done nothing for education or to solve Malta's transport problem as it was easier to buy votes and manipulate people’s minds.

The new leader pledged to reverse the government’s vindictive transfers. He said the PN would not simply be speaking about these injustices in the context of the election result, but would be addressing each and every injustice.

“Do not be afraid, wake up and come to the Nationalist Party, and you will find that it is the shield that will protect you,” he said

Last Sunday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he would be inviting Delia to a meeting in order for the two to determine how they could work together over the course of the legislature.

“From here I accept Joseph Muscat’s invitation,” he said. “I also invite Joseph Muscat to declare whether the Labour Party has values and whether it is prepared to defend morals.”

He challenged the Prime Minister to grant government MPs a free vote when parliament discusses laws regarding moral issues.

Insisting that the Nationalist was more united than ever before, Delia pledged that by the end of the year, it will have filled both deputy leader posts, as well have a new secretary general.

“The Nationalist Party can’t carry on with internal elections,” he said. “The temporary campaign has ended and on the first of January the election campaign starts.”