Briguglio: We need gentle politicians, not bullies

Civil society activist and former Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Michael Briguglio has insisted that the country is in need of a gentle politician like Simon Busuttil, and not a bully like Joseph Muscat.  

He was addressing Nationalist Party supporters in Zabbar, where he said that the country could not stand idly by and become a nation of corruption. This, he said, was why he was supporting Simon Busuttil, a man he said he wished to see become Prime Minister.

“I met Simon a number of times and I must admit that he impressed me in a number of ways,” he said. “I can assure you that Simon is a leader that listens. One that listens to the aspirations of Maltese and Gozitan people and not just the two people closest to him.”

He said Busuttil was a leader with a social conscience and one that was putting forward proposals that are “fitting of our country”.

“He is also a gentle person. We need gentle people, not bullies,” he continued. “We need people with integrity. With Simon, you know where you stand. He is the only person that can bring normality to this country.”

On the other side, he said, was Joseph Muscat, who he described as a bully and a leader who is afraid.

“He is so afraid that he couldn’t last five years,” he said. “He had to call an election to save his skin and Keith [Schembri’s].”

He argued that it seemed as if Schembri was the man who was really leading the country despite the fact that he had not been elected by the people.

Briguglio said that Malta’s crisis was constantly growing and that the country was losing its good reputation with every passing minute. He said Malta was making headlines for all the wrong reasons, companies were leaving the island and foreign banks were blacklisting the country.

“We have whole sectors worrying because of the shadow that has been cast over the country,” he said, adding that this was only happening because the Prime Minister was “afraid of his chief of staff”.

He said that people wanted to live in normal country, a country where assets were not constantly being sold off.

Briguglio said that the country was going through “one of those moments” where it needed to make important decisions.

“We must unite and convince people with the power of persuasion and by being gentle, like Simon. We must convince floating voters, switchers and new voters,” he concluded.